Buccos bust out the whoopin' sticks vs. Tampa

[GiveHyzduashot]

11-8 outcome yesterday. JJ Davis, Giles, Rivera, Young, and Sanders all homered yesterday. Davis' homer was a shot --- 470 some feet. Sanders belted his second dinger and everyone else hit their first.

Suppan started and allowed three runs, all earned, in as many innings. I guess he was off to a rough start, but pitched pretty well in the second and third innings.

Speaking of pitching well, Fogg rebounded very nicely. He pitched 3 scoreless and hitless innings with only one walk and 3 strikeouts.

Boehringer and Williams had one perfect frame a piece; Williams had one strikeout and earned his first save of the spring.

Mann gave up 5 runs and didn't record an out ... a nonissue as far as I'm concerned. No chance he makes the team. Gonzalez accounted for the other run.

Boxscore: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=230305123

Recap: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=230305123

[00_Agent]

Man, it seems like Reggie Sanders has showed up ready to play. I still can't believe we got this guy for a million bucks when not long ago we gave Derek "Operation Shutdown" Bell a 2 year 9 mil contract.

I think we are going to have some power in the lineup this season for the first time in a while. The last time I can really remember having some good power was the year we had Sprague, Al Martin, Giles, and a younger Kevin Young all in the lineup. Didn't last long though. Kevin got old, and Sprague and Martin got gone.

00

[GiveHyzduashot]

Sanders sure did come ready to play. To me, that's a tribute to his strong work ethic. He was probably working just as hard, if not harder, this off-season than last.

I agree we'll have some solid power in the lineup. I read some "expert" thinks Simon could hit .300 with 30 homers and 100 rbi. A bit of a stretch, but he could hit .300 with 20 homers and 90 rbi and I'd be pretty happy. Reese -- not a homerun hitter. Nor is Wilson. I believe Aramis will hit 35 homers this year. Giles will have 40 some. Sanders will hit 20 or so IMO. Stairs/Wilson should combine for 30. Seriously.

So I see us lacking power at C, 2B, and SS. C --- no big deal because I think Kendall will have a huge year this season .. hitting close to .315 again. Pokey and Jack are so strong defensively, anything over .240 in my book is acceptable.

[00_Agent]

Wow, I'm surprised that someone said they thought Simon would put up those kind of numbers. I think that he will be solid, but more in the range of what you just said Josh.

I agree with the Stairs/Wilson prediction. I think that Wilsom still has the potential to be a very good power hitter. He can hit it hard to all fields. He just needs to learn to get his pitch. He if fooled far too often.

00

[GiveHyzduashot]

I did a little research ...

I figure it's safe to say we'll average 25 homers from Simon, Ramirez, Giles, Sanders, and Wilson/Stairs. That's five positions.

The last time we had an average of 25 homers from five positions was .. uhh ... a long time ago. I went back 25 years, and the closest the Pirates came to that was in 1999 --- KY had 26, Sprague had 22, Martin had 24 and Giles 39. If you average in Morris, who had 15, the average comes out to 25.2 HR. But those four players kind of "picked up the slack" for WaMo ... I expect 1B, 3B, LF, RF, and CF to combine for at least 20 homers, and since Giles and Aramis should combine for 70, we'll be much more solid top to bottom than that team.

The '99 trio of Schmidt, Benson, and Ritchie (Wells, Benson, Fogg anyone?) combined for 39 wins, and that's what I expect from Wells, Benson, and Fogg.

So there seems to be a lot of parallels between the '99 team and the '03 team ... the '99 team finished 78-83.

[00_Agent]

Rammer hit two solo shots today in a 7-6 loss to the Reds. Mackowiak also hit one. I think that he is going to be great in the super sub role.

This might deserve its' own thread, but I think that Aramis is going to have a huge year. With the weight they say he has lost, and the way he has been hitting the ball so far, I can't wait for the regular season to start for him. And especially now that it looks like he and Giles are both going to have protection in the lineup, I wouldn't be surprised if they both put up career numbers. I mean, Giles has been great in recent seasons with no one around him. What kind of numbers can he put up if Aramis is healthy and with Sanders and Simon their also?

I'm predicting around .315, 45, and 125. No joke.

00

[BPBlueSox]

I'm predicting around .315, 45, and 125. No joke.

I'm holding you to that...:D

[00_Agent]

Hmmm . . . maybe I should have kept my mouth shut. :hmm:

00

[Giles_b_rippin]

I just hope Fogg and Wells, but especially Fogg, can keep up what he had at the beginning of last year. Fogg was great and Wells was solid all year. If Benson bounced back and Suppan has the year that he can have, we'll also have a pretty solid rotation.


Giles