Right to Bear Armas In An Unarmed Division

What a rip-roaring game today. Had to leave early to switch jobs, so I missed 5/8 of the scoring, but I saw what I needed to see. Keep the recap simple, right? Straight into notes about the game.

• What a slap for Cota. The day after Paulino plays all 16 innings, they dump him onto the 15-day DL with a "shoulder injury" so they can call up Doumit to start intead of him. Just trade the guy already.
• That said, good job by Doumit. The only guy who ran on him, he nailed (the ump blew the call), plus a 2-4 day at the plate. I say we start him in right tomorrow to give Eldred a day off.
• Speaking of Eldred (yet another transition), he's been shaking his left hand after some of his swings the last few games. I'm beginning to wonder.
• Today's game, much like every other game we have (and will later) play against Houston, was yet another battle to lose first. We made Wandy Rodriguez look a lot better than he really is, and the Astros made Armas look better than he is, as well. Armas' line would've looked a lot more Tonyesque had Bayliss not come in and done an amazing job of getting through three outs in the sixth without allowing anyone to score. Kudos, Jonah.

Now on to the always fun parts....statistical oddities!

The Pirates are now, as of today's win, 10-10 and in second place. Don't be surprised if today's standings (as far as win percentages, games back, etc.) look a lot like the standings headed at least into the All-Star break, if not later. This division truly is pitiful. Consider the following....

• The Cardinal's best pitcher right now is Braden Looper, making his first appearance as a starting pitcher since 1997, and compiling a 3-1 record and a 1.91 ERA through five starts. What makes his statistics stick out even more is that St. Louis' second best pitcher is our old friend Kip Wells, who is currently 1-4 with a 4.70 ERA. The Cardinals' rotation outside of Looper has made 16 starts and has posted a 2-9 record and a 5.28 ERA. Their offense? Not horrible, but Chris Duncan is the only player with an OPS over .805.
• What about them Cubs? Their offense seems alright. Five everyday starters with a batting average of .294 or better, and it isn't empty average, because three of those five also have an OPS over .850. Yet they're 8-13 because that hitting has been splitsville. Ramirez, DeRosa and FLoyd haven't hit well at home, and Murton, Barrett, and Soriano haven't hit at all on the road. Their pitching on the other hand...hasn't been horrible, considering that their 2-3-4 starters have combined to post a 2.14 ERA thus far in 2007. However, that 2.14 ERA does not include one Carlos Zambrano, the supposed staff ace, who has allowed 21 runs on 30 hits while also allowing 19 walks and 7 home runs in only 27 1/3 innings. Surely, in this division, Chicago can reasonably contend with three good pitchers and their offense, but they'll still miss the playoffs and waste most of that $300 million if Zambrano doesn't get right.
• Surely the Pirates need to worry about the Reds! Their Rule 5 draft pick, Josh Hamilton, has posted a .298 average and a 1.134 OPS through 17 games while playing some very nice defense in CF, and their three elder statesmen - Jeff Conine, Scott Hatteberg, and Alex Gonzalez - were all signed for their defense, but are all also hitting .300 or better; all of this has Cincinnati's offense sputtering a bit but still putting up runs at almost four per game. Their worst starting pitcher has posted an ERA of 4.43 so far this season. Then why are the Reds 10-12? Two of their best hitters (Gonzalez and Conine) aren't producing at home, and their catching tandem, starting third baseman, and starting second baseman are hitting a combined .192. Thus, their starting rotation has posted 12 quality starts in 22 games, with another two very nearly quality starts, and they are only 5-2 in those games.
• Now that the series is over with Houston, we can take a closer look at them. Their problems are quite simple - they can't hit OR pitch. Their biggest power hitters are Ensberg, Berkman, and Carlos Lee. Those three have combined for a .247 average and a .755 OPS. It's great that Biggio and Loretta are hitting, but they rarely play on the same day, and the guys behind them aren't doing anything. The pitching has been strange so far - no one other than Woody Williams has really been bad so far, but no one other than Oswalt has been particularly good, either. The Jennings/Albers mishmash has four quality starts in four outings, and Rodriguez and Oswalt have six quality starts in nine outings. That seems a lot like Houston has turned into us - IF the offense can start hitting, and IF Albers and Rodriguez and Jennings can keep up their current pace when Jennings finally returns, they can turn around their season of four one-run and four two-run losses.
• That leaves the....mighty? Brewers as serious competition for the Pirates. Johnny Estrada (C) and Bill Hall (3B) are the only everyday starters with an OPS under .805. The rotation has had some off days, but has still posted an ERA of 4.10 through 21 games. They've also had the benefit of a 4-1 record against the Pirates and Astros (with another 7 games against them in the next two weeks). Too early to tell if the Brewers are really a contender or just the least bad team.

So let's recap...Cincinnati and Chicago can't hit consistently, Houston can't hit at all, and St. Louis' patchwork rotation may already be pulling apart at the seams. This definitely appears to be a year where the Pirates can at least put up a winning record in the division.