Pittsburgh Pirates Striking Out at an Alarming Rate
By Matt Shetler
After what we saw during the second half of the 2011 season, skeptical Pittsburgh Pirates fans are looking for any reason to think that the Pittsburgh Pirates will collapse again in 2012.
After three games to begin the second half of the season, the doubters don’t have to search far to find a reason to say “I told you so,” as the Pirates bats are making it very easy to do so.
The strikeout is becoming an issue to keep an eye on as the Bucs have K’d at an alarming rate to start the second half of the season- 44 times in three games to be exact.
To begin the second half, the Bucs have struck out 12, 15 and 17 times in respective games and despite splitting the first two games of the series, scoring a total of 13 runs, the rate the strike out’s are piling up is something to keep an eye on.
The Bucs now lead the majors in K’s with 733, an average of 8.33 strike outs per game. A season ago, the Pirates had the third highest strike out total in the majors with 1,308, 15 shy of leading the league.
The 17 K’s in Sunday’s loss matched the franchise-high for a nine inning game (1195 and 1997).
While there is no need to panic after losing one series, it is something that the Pirates must put a stop to and preferably soon.
If this team is going to stay in a pennant race for the rest of the 2012 season, putting the bat on the ball will be a key part of any success they potentially will have.