Top 10 reasons why Pirates will be better in ’09

‘ ‘ ‘ Mid-February means one thing for Pittsburgh Pirates fans: Only another month and a half… ‘ ‘ ‘ Mid-February means one thing for Pittsburgh Pirates fans: Only another month and a half until the team is near the bottom of the division. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Last year, however, Tampa Bay Rays fans were probably thinking the same thing. The truth is, in April every team still has a chance. Here are the top 10 reasons why Pirates fans should have hope for the upcoming season. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 10. Starting pitcher Paul Maholm is coming off his best season. Not because he struck out Billy Crystal, but rather his 3.71 earned run average in 31 starts. He is in the prime of his career, which is good news for the Pirates and their fans. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 9. The Pirates now have World Series experience. Eric Hinske, formerly of Tampa Bay, signed with the team. They seem to anticipate him being the opening day left fielder, which adds a veteran with power to the lineup. Hinske totaled at least 60 RBIs in five of his seven seasons. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 8. When Pittsburgh traded Jason Bay and Xavier Nady last summer, Pirates fans were devastated. That quickly changed when starting pitcher Jeff Karstens was just four outs away from throwing a perfect game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Aug. 6. Karstens can easily become the ace of this staff and will be one of the reasons why Pirates pitching will be better this season. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 7. For years, the organization looked to have a strong minor league system, and now the time has finally come. Twenty-year-old outfielder Jose Tabata, who also came over from the New York Yankees in the Nady trade, is just one of many ‘mdash; Andrew McCutchen, Brandon Moss, Andy LaRoche, Steve Pearce, Pedro Alvarez, Nyjer Morgan ‘mdash; who show a lot of promise for the team’s future. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 6. Another reason why the starting pitching will be better is because Ian Snell and Tom Gorzelanny cannot pitch any worse than they did last season. Their numbers don’t need to be repeated, there’s no place to go but up. Both Snell and Gorzelanny had ERAs under four in 2007, but the problem was that the Pirates weren’t getting production from anyone else in the rotation. If these guys can put up numbers equivalent to 2007, the rotation will have serious depth. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 5. Last year, catcher Ryan Doumit started the season splitting time with Ronny Paulino. He finished the season with 15 home runs and a .318 batting average. In 2006, he had six home runs and a .208 batting average and nine home runs and a .274 batting average. So his statistics keep going up every year. Doumit possesses tremendous power from both sides of the plate and will play a key role if the Pirates generate any success this season. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 4. Matt Capps didn’t blow a save last year until June 10. He is one of the most underrated closers in the game. However, a shoulder injury caused him to miss nearly two months last season, and too many games were blown during that span. A healthy Capps will lead to many more victories.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 3. People quickly forget that second baseman Freddy Sanchez was the 2006 National League batting champion. He was also the only Pirate to make it to the 2007 All-Star game. So shouldn’t he be Pittsburgh’s most-valuable player? ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Last year, he was never 100-percent healthy and still had a .271 batting average, but people started to write him off. Sanchez should be expected to have a bounce-back year. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 2. The NL Central is up for grabs. Sure, the Chicago Cubs are heavy favorites going in, but after last year’s post-season collapse, who knows how many years it will take that team to recover. Not to mention, the Milwaukee Brewers no longer have their ace, CC Sabathia. It seems as if all the teams are heading in the wrong direction, so the Pirates have just as good a chance as anyone. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 1. The Pirates still have Nate McLouth. ‘Nate the Great’ simply has it all. He began last season with a 19-game hitting streak. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ He was the Pirates’ representative for the All-Star Game last year where he proved he can perform in the biggest games. During that game, he made a clutch throw from center field in the 10th inning that cut down the potential game-winning run for the American League. Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Russell Martin later commented that McLouth’s throw was ‘perfect.’ He also won the 2008 Gold Glove Award and the 2008 Roberto Clemente Award. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ As long as McLouth is on the team, fans have a player to anticipate watching.