Click here to submit your question

While Paul Meyer covers the team in Milwaukee, we still take your Qs . . .

---

Q: Dejan, how can the Pirates continue to bat Freddy Sanchez in the No. 2 spot? He has been totally undisciplined at the plate. I don't think I've ever seen him have so many poor at-bats. Jack Wilson right now is a much better hitter and bunter and should be in the No. 2 spot.

Perhaps Freddy's shoulder is bothering him much more than advertised, but he should not continue to hit out of the No. 2 spot.

Mike Rorke of Carlisle, Pa.

KOVACEVIC: Sanchez has been bumped around a bit atop the order, Mike, but he has yet to be moved way down. Your point is indisputable: He is struggling, and logic dictates he should go lower. Much lower.

John Russell's intention is clear, though: The one time he got Sanchez going for any sustained stretch this season was the first time he had him at leadoff, in early May, and that coincided with a one-week tear that looked much more like the Sanchez of the past two years than this version. He even pulled the ball from time to time. But similar moves since then have achieved nothing of the kind. Nor does he pull the ball hardly at all anymore. The one hit that he has had in the past week that went to left field, for example, was the home run beyond the North Side Notch last Friday, and that hardly qualifies as pulling.

I have no idea what that means. Just through I would throw it out there.

Is it the shoulder?

Yes, the shoulder continues to be an issue. It is a minor one, but it has not gone away.

From the time when it really messed him up in the early going, he started trying all different kinds of things, and none of them have worked. Given that his approach and swing were not exactly of the textbook variety, that did not help. I wrote back in 2006, when Sanchez was ripping apart the National League, that there was little rhyme or reason to what he does, and that remains true. Only now, he is struggling to get anything done, and there is little foundation on which to build a solution.

A final point: You referred to bunting skills as being important to the No. 2 spot. That might be true, but not to any significant degree. I think we in Pittsburgh will remain married to the Jay Bell prototype at No. 2 from now until eternity, but the numbers will show that the best on-base percentage guys should be atop the order, including at No. 2.

---

Q: What is the deal with all the pitchers' injuries over the past few years? Throughout the minors and majors, there just seem to be so many dead arms. Going back to the 60's thru the 90's, I never remember numbers like this and it was nothing for pitchers back then to throw 20 to 30 more pitches a game.

Ian M. Goldstein of Columbus, Ohio

KOVACEVIC: It obviously is very uncommon for a major league staff to have one-third of all its pitchers out with arm injuries, but that is true of the Pirates, as well. We have not seen its kind, not even that one infamous spring seven years ago when Francisco Cordova, Jason Schmidt and Kris Benson all got hurt.

But the best way to address this topic, I think, is to avoid a couple of unfounded stereotypes you cite, Ian:

1. The Pirates' pitchers get hurt more than those of other teams.

Any study that has been done shows that the only unusual element to the pitching injuries the Pirates have had is the freakish rash to the first-round picks. In a couple of cases, such as Brad Lincoln, that was due to management ignoring gaudy workloads in college. But there otherwise was no common thread other than rotten luck.

2. Pitchers were tougher in the old days.

Again, there is nothing to substantiate this. When pitchers in the old days had elbow or shoulder trouble, they were out of the game. There was no surgery, no rehab and, thus, no headlines for them. They were simply gone. Out of sight, out of mind. And those who stayed healthy looked very tough, indeed.

OK, that aside . . .

The Pirates do have some pitchers, including two of the four who are out now -- Ian Snell and Matt Capps -- who have logged more appearances and innings than most pitchers in their categories the past two or three years. In the specific cases of Snell and Tom Gorzelanny, who is not out but has had some shoulder discomfort, each topped 200 innings for the first time and each exceeded his previous career high by 20-30. We went over this at the time, but, in Gorzelanny's instance, he was pitching for the remarkably vapid goal of 15 wins.

It is possible, in the cases of Snell and Gorzelanny, who never had any real zip all through spring training and not much into the season, that this has weighed them down. It is likely, actually.

---

Q: All right, crystal ball time: Adam LaRoche, a.k.a. Lefty McThump, hits .315 with 15 home runs and 48 RBIs for the remainder of the season and finishes with totals of .275, 23 and 85.

Do the Pirates' powers-that-be . . .

A. Breathe a sigh of relief and say, "Wow, he really picked up. Can't wait to see him start next season after this tear."

B: Slap their collective foreheads and gasp: "Every year, it's the same story."

C: Try to convince another team of "A" and trade him quickly for a couple of rosin bags and a Class AA player.

Blaine Huff of Columbia, S.C.

KOVACEVIC: I would take D, which is your C option but with a better return.

The Pirates' management was deeply disappointed by LaRoche's first half this year, particularly since all parties were aware of his history in this regard, all parties did due diligence to avoid it and, in probably the most important point, everyone other than LaRoche -- and Sanchez -- seemed to become better hitters under Don Long, so there was no hitting coach to blame, either.

I have written this before, but the Pirates, even with an offense as impressive as theirs has been this year, can ill afford to have a first baseman, a vital run-producing position, miss out on the first half of the season. The Pirates are not deep enough, not good enough to be making furious second-half comebacks as a team.

This does not mean I have heard that LaRoche is being shopped. I have not. But I have heard that it is not something that should be ruled out.

---

Q: I certainly don't expect any soup, but I used the link given by Andrew Zibuck yesterday and tried to figure out how the Pirates' lineup would form by those guidelines. To the best of my ability, it looks something like this:

1. Jason Bay

2. Xavier Nady

3. Freddy Sanchez

4. Ryan Doumit

5. Nate McLouth

6. Jose Bautista

7. Adam LaRoche

8. Pitcher

9. Jack Wilson

This is mainly because McLouth's on-base percentage has fallen during his slump, as he drew just five walks in all of June. If he regains his patience, he would be the ideal leadoff hitter:

1. McLouth

2. Bay

3. Sanchez

4. Doumit

5. Nady

6. Bautista

7. LaRoche

8. Pitcher

9. Wilson

Notice that the swaps of Bay and Sanchez, and Bautista and LaRoche, yields the lineup that figures to be John Russell's standard during this experiment. So, maybe it's not so crazy after all.

Brian Leary of Clarion, Pa.

KOVACEVIC: Maybe not.

I would go with option B, as it seems you might, Brian, as McLouth's full professional history shows lots of patience. I also would have a first-half and second-half option to account for whichever half LaRoche is hitting in.

What is interesting, though, about both of the lineups you post is that neither seems to account for this patient-No.-7 prototype that seems important to Russell to place in front of the pitcher. LaRoche is patient, but few would think of him as the guy who really works the count, fouls off pitches and the like.

Oh, and another thing ...

NO LINEUP SUBMISSIONS!

You have been warned! You and your families and your friends and your pets will not be permitted soup even through intravenous means!

---

Q: Not really a question, but I was at the Columbus Clippers game Sunday and got a Dale Berra bobblehead. Take that! I was also there a few weeks ago when Indy was in town, and got a Willie Stargell figurine. Love it when the Bucs' farm team comes in town.

David Bryant of Natrona Heights

KOVACEVIC: Dale Berra? Really? I am still working to secure the release of an Adam Hyzdu bobblehead being held hostage by two other readers from a recent trip to Altoona, and I have to hear about this?

Have your people get in touch with my people.

---

Until Monday, when we chat before the first game of the Houston series, also the day I rejoin the regular coverage . . .