The (Friday) Windup, Stewart hops aboard the Cole Train edition
Clint Hurdle isn’t a big believer in the virtues of pitchers having a personal catcher, but obviously it’s no coincidence that since Chris Stewart came off the DL in mid-April, he has been paired with Gerrit Cole five times in his seven starts, including tonight:
- Harrison, 3b
- Walker, 2b
- McCutchen, cf
- Marte, lf
- Kang, ss
- Alvarez, 1b
- Polanco, rf
- Stewart, c
- Cole, p
This will be Cole’s 25th start while Stewart has been on the Bucs’ active roster, and will be his 15th with Stew behind the plate. ERA for the first 14: 2.94. …
The Mets are last in the Majors in road scoring (63 runs in 19 away games), and with Cole, A.J. Burnett and Francisco Liriano lined up to face them at PNC Park, this feels like an early “tipping point” for the Bucs’ 2015 hopes. …
That’ll be quite a Superhero duel Saturday, A.J. [Batman] Burnett against Matt [The Dark Knight] Harvey. Who is the real deal? To find out, release Robin on the field, and see who he runs to. …
Something tells me, any day now, the Zoltan will be back. …
Change for a Nickel 
Great game Cole and Pirates.
For the next two games, they should put Jordy Mercer back at SS to see if he has learned the Kang Lesson, as JaHa recently has, put Kang at second and move Walker to the bench to attend the JHK School of Player Development. Niel’s prolonged total lack of hitting is no longer acceptable.
Good comment Miss D! Couldn’t agree more…
Great day for Pirate Baseball! AJ, really?! 10 K’s, 0 walks, RBI and a single. Anything else he can do? Plus many of our hitters showed up.
Which brings up Neil Walker. Jordy Mercer has served enough time in the penalty box for now. Play him at SS tomorrow and see if he gets it yet. Kang at second.
Walker has just ripped off a 9-53 run over his last 13 games (= .170 BA). What’s it gonna take for Mr Hurdle to assign him also to the Jung Ho Kang School of Player Development, the front row for which is on the bench…..
I was going to enter a post for today’s game, but Miss D stole my lines!
I think I am falling in love with her. Tom, please forward my email address to her!
Go Bucs!
Nice to be heard, Miss D? Sunday lineup: Harrison @ 2B, Mercer @ SS, Kang @ 3B.
Yes, thank you Tom!
Jordy gets a strong B+ coming out of the JHK school!
Neil needs to stay in class today, the Cliff’s Notes version is not enough.
We should do well v fireballer Phelps tonite.
Happy Memorial Day… Keep up the good work!