There were two massive question marks heading into this season for the Pirates. First, how would the extremely young and inexperienced pitching rotation hold up to the major league hitters once the regular season started? Second, how would the offense fare? So far, we seem to have a surprise validation of the offense, but an atrocious start to the pitching on this team. I noted several times in previous blogs that if the Pirates rotation wasn't up to par, that the team would - to be brutally frank - suck. Unfortunately, so far in this young season, the pitching staff isn't holding up its end of the bargain. What's the matter? Well, with Oliver Perez, its hard to say. Mechanics? Head-case? What? It's probably a combination. The mechanics - by most accounts he has a flawed delivery - makes it harder for him to deliver the pitch with accuracy and power. When the pitching coaches saw his delivery, they knew they needed to "fix" things for him, otherwise what's happening now was going to happen. The problem with Perez is that his head is getting in the way as well. Working out the mechanics will take some time, and will result in some painful learning, but it will make him a better pitcher in the long run. But young pitchers press, and he's doing exactly that - trying overly hard right now, and its just getting him killed. Zach Duke was going through the same problems. Now, one game is not a trend, but in the weekend game against Chicago his mechanics were working, and he pitched a good game. Like Perez, though, being young means that he's capable of "blowing up" when he's faced with difficulties. The other pitchers are all facing the same problems. They are giving up early runs at an alarming rate, seeming to settle down, but still behind. Then, once the Pirates offense (which has been a pleasant surprise) gets the team back into some form of contention...either the starter blows up again, or the bullpen (a supposed strength of this team) blows it. Any way you cut it, right now the pitching staff is killing these Pirates. Only time will tell whether or not they can or will recover to salvage this season. One thing is for certain, however - unless they right this ship to some degree very soon, the season may be lost before it even really got a chance to start... At least the offense and defense is showing signs of legitimate life. The Pirates are among the leaders in the NL in extra-base hits, and their defense has been very solid thus far. Whether or not the offense onslaught will continue is not really a question - its not going to. They are going to cool off at some point (that's a baseball truism rather than a prediction). When it does, if the pitching staff continues its woes... I'm still hopeful - but no longer optimistic. We shall see what happens...it will be interesting to watch, but possibly (probably?) not fun...