Pittsburgh Pirates

Wandy Rodriguez / LHP / starter

Rodriguez is a simple three-pitch pitcher. He throws a big curve between 72-78 mph, a straight changeup in the low-80s, and a straight fastball in the upper-80s. Wandy was a member of the 2007 Caribbean Series champion Aguilas Cibaenas. 6/24/11

[fastball(86-94), curve(72-80), changeup(80-86)]


A.J. Burnett / RHP / starter

A.J. Burnett is a power pitcher. He owns a rising fastball that sits at 94-95 mph and can hit the upper-90s. His second pitch is a hard curveball, great for getting Ks. A.J. has concentrated on improving his changeup over the last few years, and it's developed into a decent third pitch, getting good tail and sink. He also learned from Roy Halladay in Toronto and altered his pitching motion, creating a more relaxed and fluid delivery. Staying healthy has always been Burnett's biggest problem, maybe his new delivery is helping. His stuff can be dominant, but not from the DL. 7/4/11

[fastball(91-96), curve(79-85), changeup(85-89)]

Francisco Liriano / LHP / starter

Liriano was simply filthy before TJ surgery. He threw 95 mph consistently with a sharp slider that could touch 90. Returning from surgery in '08 and '09, Liriano was touching 94 if he was lucky, and his slider had flattened out terribly. It took over two years for him recover, and he is finally pitching well again in 2010. Francisco has rediscovered his biting slider, and is back-ankling it to RHs consistently. Francisco also deals a solid changeup, a pitch that can be effective at any velocity. The Dominican left-hander has become ace of the Twins once again. 10/4/10 CSJ

[fastball(91-95), slider(82-89), changeup(83-86)]

James McDonald / RHP / starter

McDonald is a hard throwing right-hander from Long Beach. He throws over-the-top with all his pitches, giving him a "rising" 4-seamer and a very soft changeup. McDonald uses a slow curveball for his breaking pitch. 10/13/08 CSJ

[fastball(90-95), changeup(74-79), curve(71-77)]

Charlie Morton / RHP / starter

Morton has evolved from being a 4-seam guy that regularly got smoked, to a Roy Halladay look-alike that is somehow able to keep his ERA under 4.00. His ratios are still nothing special, but Morton is giving himself a fighting chance by getting some movement on a 2-seamer and trying to throw more strikes. Charlie, a right-hander from the state of Connecticut, didn't just copy Halladay's windup, but he copied his entire repertoire as well. Morton now works from a high 3/4 arm slot and mixes in a good amount of cutters to go with the 2-seam fastball. He spins 12 to 6 curves and uses a splitter to try and get Ks.

Morton's metamorphosis is a huge part of the Pittsburgh Pirates' resugence in 2011. 7/23/11

[fastball(89-94), splitter(83-86), curve(75-79), cutter(88-91)]

Jeff Karstens / RHP / starter

Karstens will rarely touch 90 mph with his fastball, but shows the batter multiple arm angles and degrees of movement. His sinking 2-seamer will vary from 85-89 mph and he'll throw a 4-seamer that can touch 93. Karstens uses two breaking balls; a 77-82 mph slider and a 66-72 mph curve. Jeff's off-speed pitch is a sinking changeup. Ironically, after watching his last few starts, I noticed that Karstens threw about 15-20 cutters (I didn’t count them) at 85-87 mph in his shutout performance against the Astros. However, he did not throw the pitch in his previous three outings and I’ve never noticed Karstens throw a cutter at any time in his previous years in the league. It’s hard to believe that he’d break out a new pitch when he was going so well, but that’s what he did. Karstens also rarely walks a batter, which is helping him stay consistent. 7/18/11

[2-seam fastball(85-89), 4-seam fastball(88-93), cutter(85-88), slider(76-82), curve(66-72), changeup(78-83)]

Jason Grilli / RHP / closer

Jason Grilli, nicknamed "Cheese Man" by Gene Lamont, has a good arm but hasn't produced much at the major league level. He was the 4th overall pick in 1997 after a dominant career at Seton Hall. Grilli throws a hard, low-90s fastball and a slider that gets a lot of break. He'll also mix in a sinking changeup to LHs. Grilli has the look of a dorky mid-1980s reliever but has the fire of a Mitch Williams. 8/6/11

[fastball(90-93), slider(79-84), changeup(82-85)]