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| Monday, July 17 | |||||
| Midseason report: Pittsburgh Pirates ESPN.com | |||||
The Pittsburgh Pirates find themselves in third place in the NL Central, the worst division in baseball. At the All-Star break the Pirates are 38-48 -- not too good, not too bad. With that in mind, it's time to take look back on the good and the bad from Pittsburgh's first half.
First-half MVP: Who's the best center fielder in the NL? Ken Griffey Jr.? Andruw Jones? You could make a very good argument for Brian Giles. A power hitter, Giles is clearly the main cog in Pittsburgh's surging machine. His numbers are great. Giles is batting .317 with 23 doubles, 21 home runs and 72 RBI. To top it all off, Giles was the only Pirates player who has started all 86 games. He didn't ask for a day off, and said he didn't want one until the All-Star break. Talented and tough? We like that.
Biggest disappointment: In his fourth full season with the Pirates, Jason Schmidt
was gonna finally live up to his big-time billing. He was gonna control his 95 mph fastball. He was gonna be a solid No. 2 starter behind ace Kris Benson. This was realistic. This was what he said he could do. But once again, Schmidt has failed to pitch on a high level. In 11 starts, he's just 2-5 with a 5.40 ERA. In 63 innings he has walked 41 batters. Schmidt was diagnosed with inflamed tissue in his right rotator cuff and put on the DL on June 10. It is likely to keep him out of the rotation until August.
Biggest surprise: A pinch-hitter for most of his nine-year career, OF John Vander Wal
has been surprisingly useful for the Pirates this year. Through 68 games, Vander Wal is batting .275 with 10 jacks and 45 RBI, which is third best on the Pirates. Second-half goals: Pittsburgh has a nucleus of scrappy players to be a spoiler down the stretch. But that's it. A run for the wild card is a wild dream. Manager Gene Lamont should concentrate on developing youngsters like Chad Hermansen, Aramis Ramirez and Adrian Brown. Grade:  -- Giles, Benson, Jason Kendall and Kevin Young have been solid contributors. But there are 25 players on a team. They still need better all-around talent to seriously contend.(Scale: 1 to 4 baseballs; 1 = worst, 4 = best) We told you what we thought of the Pirates' first-half performance, now you've told us. Here is what you had to say about what the Pirates have to do in the second half. | ALSO SEE Midseason Feedback: Pirates MLB midseason reports ESPN.com's All-Star Game coverage Kurkjian: Stories of the first half Ten second-half questions for the AL Ten second-half questions for the NL | ||||