Pirates can improve as a team, even before making trades

     It has been evident all year that the Pirates have had a lack of fundamental baseball. Time and time again, it has cost the team runs and sometimes, eventually wins in the long run. Pirates have been able to overcome some of the mistakes with occasional clutch hits and good pitching. This has been masking the problem a little bit. These are things that you cannot blame on lack of depth or lack of another big hitter or two in the lineup. This goes back to the fundementals and coaching.

     Defensive woes are one thing that has been evident. While there has been some really good plays, and the Pirates leading the league in double plays turned, there have been many mistakes. Whether that be letting balls that shouldn't get by, get by, or dropping or bobbling a ball that should be an easy play or stuff like that, it's something that has been a problem. The players most prone to this have been Walker and Alvarez. Most of the mistakes can be blamed on lack of fundementals. The coaching has to get these things straightened out.

     Another problem is lack of manufacturing runs. Clint Hurdle has seemed to really changed his approach this year. In situations where he used to bunt guys, he'll let them swing away. I believe this is contributing to problems in the offense. They are going for big innings, which are few and far between, instead of going for a run here and there. You aren't going to cash in big every inning. That's why it's important to get men over and get them in when the opportunity arises. Of course, it depends on the situation. Bottom of the order, you should be trying for just 1 or 2. Top of order, yeah sure, go for the throat. Not every situation warrants to go for a big inning, especially with this team struggling with runners in scoring position. It's much easier to score 1 or 2 here and there in a game than try to score 5 or 6 in one inning and sit on it. Hurdle needs a change in philosophy.

     The biggest issue that peeks it's ugly head in just about every game is the bad base running. It's seems day by day the Pirates figure out a new way to mess up on the bases. This has also cost the Pirates runs here and there. This can be contributed to both players and coaches mistakes. You'd think that a team would be better on the bases. Every team has their blunders, but the Pirates do it more than anyone else. The base coaches must do better in game and everyone has to work extra hard in base running drills to get better. If not, it'll just get worse.

     If the Pirates just got better at fundementals, they'd be better. The offense wouldn't be like amazing, but it wouldn't look quite as bad. The pitching would look even better, too. This again proves that if a team can do that small things right, they can do great things. It's hard to mask lack of good fundementals for too long. Therefore, something needs to be changed soon.