2011 Pittsburgh Pirates Season Preview and Predictions

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There hasn't been a lot to get excited about if you are a Pittsburgh Pirate fan. Pittsburgh lost 105 games, though winning just 57, for their 18th consecutive losing season. It was also the worst record the Pirates produced since going 42-112 in 1952. The Pirates will not contend for the NL Central this season, but they are hoping that a young core of talent will play greater under new manager Clint Hurdle, who took Colorado from the basement of the NL West to a Globe Series in 2007. To get a better concept of what Pittsburgh will appear like this year, here is breakdown of their beginning lineup and starting rotation, plus our MLB predictions on where they will finish this year.

Starting Lineup

Pittsburgh went out an acquired Lyle Overbay, in hopes that he could supply a spark in the middle of a young lineup. Overbay hit 20 home runs to go along with 67 RBIs when playing for the Blue Jays final season, but its difficult to picture a major year hitting in this lineup. Overbay will will need a lot of help from guys like Ronny Cedeno and Andrew McCutchen. Each players did not fair well final season. McCutchen has all the tools to grow to be a star in this league, although Cedeno also has the talent to be a solid player, this could be his final chance with the Pirates to show he has what it takes, as he could end up losing his job to Pedro Ciraco.

The Pirates also have a trio of young talent that could end up generating this lineup one opposing teams essentially have to be concerned about. Second baseman Neil Walker, third baseman Pedro Alvarez, and left fielder Jose Tabata all had impressive initially seasons with the club in 2010, and figure to only improve as they continue to create. Matt Diaz and Garrett Jones need to do a solid job platooning in suitable. The only sure weakness the Pirates have heading into the year is catcher Chris Synder, who hit just.169 final season.

Beginning Rotation

What will keep Pittsburgh from generating large strides in 2011, is the truth that they just don't have the beginning pitching to compete with the rest of the teams in this division. The Pirates top of the rotation is not threatening at all with the likes of Paul Maholm and Ross Ohlendorf. Maholm went 9-15 with a five.10 ERA, whilst Ohlendorf went 1-11 with a four.07 ERA. Do not expect major improvements from either of these guys in 2011. The botttom of the rotation will feature former San Diego starter Kevin Correia, promising young proper hander James McDonald, and either Charlie Morton or Scott Olsen. McDonald has the talent to turn into the ace of this staff, but the Pirates need a miracle for this rotation to actually support them win games this season.

2011 Projection: 5th Place NL Central

The future does not look awesome for Pittsburgh in 2011, but we wouldn't be shocked to see the Pirates boost on their poor 2010 performance. The Pirates have a solid core of young talent in the field, they just want the pitching to go with it.