2014 Pittsburgh Pirates Predictions

It's almost time.  Next Sunday, we will be one day away from 2014 regular season baseball for the Pirates.  The team is a coming off one of the most memorable seasons in franchise history, winning 94 games, winning the wild-card game against the Reds in one of the most electric stadium atmospheres anyone will ever experience, taking the Cardinals to game five of the NL Division Series, and finally ending the infamous streak of losing seasons at 20 years.  To many people, myself included, the season came as a surprise, as there was very little outside help that was added over the 2012-2013 offseason, and the team was coming off the second straight late season collapse.  However, new additions and young players exceeded all expectations for them, with Francisco Liriano pitching like an ace, Gerrit Cole showing his #1 potential, AJ Burnett having another great season, Russell Martin providing a huge upgrade at catcher, Pedro Alvarez tying for the NL lead with 36 home runs, Starling Marte putting up a 5.1 WAR in his first full season, and of course, Andrew McCutchen winning the NL MVP.
Heading into the 2014 season, there has been a lot of criticism about the lack of free agent additions, with Edinson Volquez being the biggest signing.  They pursued bigger names like Josh Johnson and James Loney, but could not get them to Pittsburgh, and also lost AJ Burnett to the Phillies.  However, like 2013, there is a lot of room for young players to step up and reach their potential, players who were injured in 2013 to possibly play a full-season, and top prospects to get the call to the show and make an impact.  Here are my 2014 Pittsburgh Pirates Predictions.


Top 5 Starting Pitchers:

Gerrit Cole: 14-6, 2.72 ERA, 195 IP, 182 K's, 1.11 WHIP

Francisco Liriano: 11-9, 3.59 ERA, 168 IP, 166 K's, 1.24 WHIP

Charlie Morton: 8-8, 3.87 ERA, 171 IP, 126 K's, 1.27 WHIP

Wandy Rodriguez: 6-7, 4.10 ERA, 155 IP, 107 K's, 1.23 WHIP

Edinson Volquez: 4-6, 4.77 ERA, 125 IP, 111 K's, 1.46 WHIP 


Other Pitchers

Brandon Cumpton: 3-2, 4.14 ERA, 54 IP, 36 K's, 1.26 WHIP, 0 Saves

Jeanmar Gomez: 2-2, 3.96 ERA, 56 IP, 35 K's, 1.31 WHIP, 0 Saves

Jason Grilli: 1-2, 2.70 ERA, 59 IP, 81 K's, 1.12 WHIP, 43 Saves

Jared Hughes: 0-1, 4.32 ERA, 22 IP, 15 K's, 1.28 WHIP, 0 Saves

Phil Irwin: 1-1, 4.43 ERA, 23 IP, 18 K's, 1.21 WHIP, 0 Saves

Jeff Locke: 5-5, 3.71 ERA, 111 IP, 86 K's, 1.31 WHIP, 0 Saves

Vin Mazzaro: 3-5, 4.38 ERA, 42 IP, 26 K's, 1.34 WHIP, 0 Saves

Mark Melancon: 3-1, 2.63 ERA, 68 IP, 66 K's, 1.07 WHIP, 4 Saves

Bryan Morris: 5-2, 3.11 ERA, 67 IP, 54 K's, 1.26 WHIP, 0 Saves

Andy Oliver: 0-0, 9.00 ERA, 3 IP, 2 K's, 2.00 WHIP, 0 Saves

Stolmy Pimentel: 6-4, 3.53 ERA, 80 IP, 65 K's, 1.24 WHIP, 0 Saves

Joely Rodriguez: 0-0, --ERA, --IP, --K's, ---WHIP, --Saves

Casey Sadler: 0-0, 4.50 ERA, 10 IP, 4 K's, 1.50 WHIP, 0 Saves

Tony Watson: 4-2, 2.42 ERA, 75 IP, 65 K's, 1.00 WHIP, 1 Saves

Duke Welker: 1-2, 4.50 ERA, 16 IP, 12 K's, 1.36 WHIP, 0 Saves

Justin Wilson: 5-2, 2.89 ERA, 78 IP, 69 K's, 1.08 WHIP, 2 Saves

PITCHER OF THE YEAR:  Gerrit Cole
BREAKOUT PITCHER OF THE YEAR:  Bryan Morris
RELIEVER OF THE YEAR:  Jason Grilli

Catchers:

Russell Martin: 423 AB, .237 AVG, 14 HR, 58 RBI, 7 SB, .718 OPS

Tony Sanchez: 102 AB, .274 AVG, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 1 SB, .772 OPS

Chris Stewart: 112 AB, .212 AVG, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 1 SB, .571 OPS

Infielders:

Pedro Alvarez: 572 AB, .254 AVG, 34 HR, 102 RBI, 1 SB, .801 OPS

Clint Barmes: 201 AB, .219 AVG, 4 HR, 16 RBI, 0 SB, .578 OPS

Alen Hanson: 0 AB, --AVG, --HR, --RBI, --SB, --OPS

Chris McGuiness: 42 AB, .262 AVG, 2 HR, 0 SB, .741 OPS

Jordy Mercer: 421 AB, .276 AVG, 12 HR, 6 SB, .774 OPS

Brent Morel: 28 AB, .214 AVG, 0 HR, 0 SB, .513 OPS

Gaby Sanchez: 408 AB, .257 AVG, 11 HR, 1 SB, .770 OPS

Neil Walker: 508 AB, .277 AVG, 17 HR, 4 SB, .785 OPS


Outfielders:

Jaff Decker: 26 AB, .269 AVG, 1 HR, 0 SB, .772 OPS

Josh Harrison: 106 AB, .268 AVG, 3 HR, 4 SB, .701 OPS

Andrew Lambo: 236 AB, .251 AVG, 11 HR, 1 SB, .765 OPS

Starling Marte: 594 AB, .307 AVG, 17 HR, 38 SB, .838 OPS

Andrew McCutchen: 586 AB, .325 AVG, 26 HR, 24 SB, .943 OPS

Gregory Polanco: 398 AB, .273 AVG, 12 HR, 23 SB, .773 OPS

Travis Snider: 134 AB, .277 AVG, 3 HR, 2 SB, .755 OPS

Jose Tabata: 118 AB, .286 AVG, 2 HR, 3 SB, .778 OPS


HITTER OF THE YEAR:  Andrew McCutchen
BREAKOUT HITTER OF THE YEAR:  Starling Marte
MOST VALUABLE BENCH PLAYER: Andrew Lambo

And the Player Who People Want To See Who Is Not On the 40-Man

Jameson Taillon: 10-7, 3.47 ERA, 108 IP, 96 K's, 1.23 WHIP, 0 Saves

Whole Team Awards

Team MVP:  Andrew McCutchen
Rookie of the Year:  Jameson Taillon


TEAM RECORD:  87-75

Minor League Awards

AAA
BEST HITTER: Tony Sanchez
BEST PITCHER: Brandon Cumpton
BREAKOUT PLAYER: Phillip Irwin

AA
BEST HITTER: Alen Hanson
BEST PITCHER: Joely Rodriguez
BREAKOUT PLAYER: Willy Garcia

A+
BEST HITTER: Josh Bell
BEST PITCHER: Tyler Glasnow
BREAKOUT PLAYER: Luis Heredia

A
BEST HITTER: Austin Meadows
BEST PITCHER: Luis Heredia
BREAKOUT PLAYER: Jacoby Jones

Whole System Awards
HITTER OF THE YEAR: Josh Bell
PITCHER OF THE YEAR: Tyler Glasnow
BREAKOUT PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Luis Heredia


The stat predictions were based off trends in recent years, expectancy of regression/improvement based on advanced stats, and expectations and potential for the younger players with little experience in the majors.

I'd love to hear your predictions, leave them in the comment section below!


Any questions or comments can be sent to me on twitter @mikemaw45 or in the comment section below.  Would you like to have me write about a certain topic for next week's segment?  Let me know!  You can email me at mikemaw45@gmail.com.  I'd also love to have more writers to build the site, if you're looking for an opportunity to write, you can also email me at mikemaw45@gmail.com, and we can discuss any future opportunities.