NL Central Preview, Part 2: Under Clint Hurdle, Pirates in Position to Improve

Some of the most interesting teams in any sport are those that don’t make the postseason. These teams desperately try to find an identity, usually by starting a youth movement.

The Pittsburgh Pirates and Houston Astros will once again rely heavily on young players, as will the high-payroll Chicago Cubs.

There’s more intrigue when a team’s contention is up in the air, and all three teams have a definite uphill climb to give the Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers, and St. Louis Cardinals a serious challenge in the National League Central.

The Pirates, which won only 57 games last season as the bottom-dweller in the division, are anchored by new head coach Clint Hurdle.

The former Colorado Rockies manager appears up for the challenge with an extraordinarily inexperienced team, as ESPN’s Jayson Stark superbly documented.

Hurdle is the ideal manager for the Pirates: demanding, loud-voiced, and patient. “When he talks, people listen,” first baseman-outfielder Steven Pearce told Stark. Pearce, 27, is one of the cornerstones on a team that ranks as the youngest in baseball.

Hurdle doesn’t mind overseeing such youth. As a manager in charge of such a young group, I would relish in the opportunity to watch potential greatness progress.

It appears he feels the same. And being young doesn’t necessarily mean they can’t make Hurdle’s first season with the club a success.

If the Pirates do greatly increase their win total as I expect, center fielder Andrew McCutchen will be one of the main reasons why. The 24-year-old defined "five-tool player" in 2010.

He hit .286, drove in 56 runs, scored 93 times, stole 33 bases, clubbed 16 homers, socked 35 doubles, and had an impressive 86/70 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

He, who hit leadoff much of his first full season, will move down to third in the order for more run-scoring opportunities.

“Andrew has a chance to drive in 100 runs, score 100 runs and save us 100 runs in the outfield, that’s a 300-run player,” veteran outfielder Matt Diaz said in an article by ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian.

“There aren’t many of those in our game today. This kid is that good. And he is going to get better every year. When I worked with him years ago, he knew how to play the game. He was a very polished player at a very young age.”

Hitting behind him in the order will be Pedro Alvarez, a 24-year-old third baseman who was the second overall pick in the 2008 MLB Draft.

He hit 16 homers and drove in 64 runs during his rookie season, but his role will be greatly increased in 2011.

With McCutchen hitting ahead of him, he should get plenty of opportunities to drive in runs.

His plate discipline needs work, but once he improves his strikeout-to-walk ratio, he will be force in the middle of Pittsburgh’s order.

Jose Tabata, their 22-year-old left-fielder, was once a highly-touted prospect in the New York Yankees system and is now showing why. Acquired in the six-player trade that sent Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte to the Yankees, Tabata has done nothing but open eyes with Pittsburgh.

In 102 games in 2010, his rookie season, he batted .299 with a respectable .346 on-base percentage, had 19 stolen bases, and only struck out 57 times in 405 at-bats.

His speed was game-changing, as he legged out 27 infield hits and had 12 bunt hits.

What excitement the Pirates have offensively, they lack in the pitching department. Their staff is similarly young and unproven, but unlike the aforementioned trio, it isn’t particularly promising.

Twenty-six-year-old James McDonald, 27-year-old Ross Ohlendorf, 26-year-old Charlie Morton, 30-year-old Opening Day starter Kevin Correia, and the rotation’s only left-hander, 28-year-old Paul Maholm, have the stuff to win games, yet none have had a great deal of success at the major league level.

Though the improved offense should boost their miserable win-totals last season, Hurdle will have to be patient with these five and use this season as a way for them to get 30-plus starts in and gain experience.

Hitters are just too good, especially within the division, to have a rotation such as Pittsburgh’s and expect to win consistently.

Five starters lost 10 or more games last year, and the pitcher to throw the most innings, Maholm with 185, allowed 225 hits and had a dreadful 5.01 ERA.

McDonald, who has the livest arm and had a rotation-best 4.02 ERA last season, is most likely their brightest hope.

Joel Hanrahan has the bullpen’s best arm and is expected to close, having struck out 100 hitters in just 69 1/3 innings last season.

Evan Meek, who was the team’s lone All-Star last season, will set him up, so the back end of Pittsburgh’s bullpen is very strong. Like the starting rotation, the rest of their bullpen will take time to develop.

There is light at the end of the tunnel for Pittsburgh, which holds the record in professional sports with 18 consecutive losing seasons. A 19th will most likely be added to that depressing total, but they have good reason to be excited about the season and beyond.

The additions of Diaz and Lyle Overbay will mentor their young lineup and give the team the experience and veteran leadership it needs.

And McDonald, Ohlendorf, and Morton can only benefit from full season’s worth of starts. The pieces to the puzzle are there, and who better to see if they can fit into place than Hurdle?

“I think in life, you come to crossroads,” he said in Stark’s piece. “And you have opportunities. And you choose the one that fits you the best, the one where you can have a chance to make a difference.”

Considering what the Pirates have done this offseason and what they already had in place, Hurdle can.