BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) -The Pittsburgh Pirates now have a single-A farm club nicknamed the Power. They didn’t add the Charleston, W.Va.-based franchise because they felt it would reflect the offensive personality of their major league club.
With only a week of spring training remaining, the Pirates are still sorting out where the home runs will come from in an offense that dropped off precipitously power-wise after Jason Bay and Xavier Nady were traded last July.
The Pirates hit 115 home runs from the start of the season until the end of July – a period in which Bay hit 22 homers and Nady hit 13 – but only 38 homers during the final two-plus months of the season. Their two worst months offensively also came without Bay and Nady; they hit 32 homers in July alone, but only 38 in August and September combined.
– made the middle of the Pirates’ order that much better. With only Nate McLouth, Adam LaRoche and Ryan Doumit remaining to produce power after the trades, the rest of the order suffered without the protection provided by Bay and Nady.
“But you build with what you have, and look at what some of our guys did in August and September,” manager John Russell said. “Freddy (Sanchez) really came on. We’ve got Adam (LaRoche) who has power. He’s going to drive in runs. Jack (Wilson) is going to be back. Andy LaRoche hopefully has the Pittsburgh jitters out of the way to where he doesn’t feel like he’s pressing. Brandon Moss showed flashes of being a power bat. Ryan Doumit was the top-hitting catcher. The offense is there.”
Since ending last season by losing 41 of 60, the Pirates picked up two bats in Eric Hinske and Craig Monroe they believe can replace some of that offense they lacked down the stretch.
Hinske hit 20 homers in 381 at-bats with the AL-champion Rays last season. Because he can play the corner spots in the infield and outfield he should get considerable playing time. The 32-year-old Monroe had three seasons with 20 or more homers from 2003-06, but slipped to 12 homers in 2007 and eight in 163 at-bats a year ago with Minnesota.
wer they’re not certain they possess. He had six homers in 158 at-bats after joining the Pirates and is scheduled to open the season in right field.
“Brandon Moss is a 15-18-20 home runs hitter,” McLouth said. “You’ve got to get power somewhere, and I’m sure he’s going to hit some.”
The Pirates will decide during this final week of camp whether Nyjer Morgan will begin the season in left field. He is the only player currently on the major league roster capable of creating runs on the bases, but hasn’t hit well this spring.
If the Pirates decide to go north with Morgan in left, McLouth and his 26 homers will stay anchored in the No. 3 spot in the batting order. However, McLouth may shift back to leadoff if Morgan isn’t in left field, which could weaken the middle of the order.
If Morgan is in left, the opening day lineup likely would have five hitters who finished in the single digits in homers last season, although Moss, Morgan and third baseman Andy LaRoche have limited major league experience. Only McLouth and first baseman Adam LaRoche (25 homers) hit more than 20 last season.
. I think they probably pressed a little bit, but they’ll relax and go out and play now.”
Recent-vintage Pirates teams have proven that having decent power doesn’t always mean much in the standings.
Since having their last winning season in 1992, the Pirates have had the top four home-run seasons and six of the top 10 such seasons in club history, yet none of those six teams had a winning record. Last year’s club ranked ninth in franchise history with 153 homers.
Obviously, offense – and winning – isn’t always about homers.
“Who knows how much power we’re going to have?” Sanchez said. “We have some guys who can hit home runs – obviously Nate, Ryan Doumit (15 homers in 2008), Adam LaRoche, Moss has a ton of power. We have guys who can hit home runs. We probably don’t have a guy who is going to hit 40, but you can manufacture runs on the base paths.”
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