Ask the Experts: Pittsburgh Pirates

Our friends over at RotoProfessor recently had the opportunity to conduct a small interview of Danny Knobler, who provides excellent coverage of the Detroit Tigers for mlive.com (to view his coverage, click here). The following material is from the blog www.rotoprofessor.com, which puts up daily material and is definitely worth reading...

In the second installment of our “Ask the Expert” series, I had the chance to submit five questions to Rob Biertempfel, the Pirates beat writer for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. You can view his coverage of the team by clicking here. He gave a great insight into many of the questions people want to know about the Pirates entering into the 2008 season, so without further adieu, here’s what he had to say:

• Question 1: The team in general struggled offensively, with Adam Laroche and Jason Bay leading the way. Who do you think has the best chance to have a rebound season and why? 
  
• Rob Biertempfel: Some of Jason Bay’s problems last year were due to overuse — remember, it was news when he got a day off early in the season — and achy knees. Jason has told me his knees feel good to go, although he won’t be running all-out from the start of spring training. That’s a red flag. Knee problems never really go away; you can only manage the problem as best you can. Bay has plenty of incentives to upgrade his stats: personal and professional pride and the chance to bolster his trade value. LaRoche always has been a slow starter, but his output the first six to eight weeks of last season was awful. He altered his offseason routine a little (but still saving plenty of time for hunting on his ranch in Kansas) to hopefully jump-start the 2008 season. He’ll never put up Adam Dunn or David Ortiz numbers, but he still can be very productive in the Pirates’ lineup. 

Question 2: It appears that the Pirates CF options are wide open, with guys like Nate McLouth, Chris Duffy and Nyjer Morgan all having a realistic chance of winning the job. I’ve even heard talk of Andrew McCutchen as a possibility. Who do you see winning the job out of Spring Training? Who do you see filling the role by the end of the season?
Rob Biertempfel: Unless something bizarre happens, forget about seeing Andrew McCutchen in Pittsburgh until at least September. Chris Duffy also is bound for the minors in April; he’s got a lot to prove — mental and physical — to the new administration. I think Nate McLouth will emerge from spring training as the starter, because he has a nice mix of speed and power. Morgan will get plenty of playing time, though — perhaps something just short of a platoon. Who will be there in August? That’s a tough call, if the team ends up being as active at the trade deadline as I think it will be.

• Question 3: What role do you see Ryan Doumit filling for the team this season? 
  
• Rob Biertempfel: I think he’ll be the starting right fielder after Xavier Nady is traded. Backup catcher in an extreme emergency. Doumit showed a pretty good arm in right field last year and has decent pop. The Red Sox sniffed around about him in the offseason, but the Pirates’ demands were too high. 
  

Question 4: Which of the Pirates starting pitchers do you think will be the ace of the staff in ‘08, Ian Snell or Tom Gorzellany and why?
Rob Biertempfel: Gorzelanny has the best long-term prospects as an ace. But I’m hoping manager John Russell/pitching coach Jeff Andrews are more mindful of Gorzo’s health than was Jim Tracy/Jim Colborn. Snell showed at times last year that he is a more mature pitcher (except for that stuff about wanting to head-hunt the Rockies); he still has room for improvement in that area.

• Question 5: After his impressive major league debut in 2005, Zach Duke has struggled, including missing time in the 2nd half of ‘07 due to elbow troubles. Do you think he’s going to be healthy this season and how well do you think he’ll perform? 
  
• Rob Biertempfel: I think Duke is healthy again, both physically and in terms of his confidence. I’m expecting a seven- or eight-win season and an ERA around 4.30 out of him. Baby steps, but important ones.