Season Preview: Pittsburgh Pirates

Last Season: 62-92, T-7th in NL

Manager: Billy Meyer (1st season in Pittsburgh, 1st total)Offseason: After just one offseason, the Pirates are almost completely unrecognizable from last year. The changes started in mid-November, when they purchased a pair of bench players, Stan Rojek and Ed Stevens, from the Dodgers who will immediately start in the infield for Pittsburgh. Four days later, they traded three players to the Braves for Johnny Hopp and Danny Murtaugh. December saw another pair of minor trades with the Dodgers and Indians in the first week. Then, on December 8th, they finalized a big trade with Brooklyn. Billy Cox, Gene Mauch, and Preacher Roe were sent east for Hal Gregg, Vic Lombardi, and Dixie Walker. Two days later, they purchased starting pitcher Elmer Riddle from the Reds. A few more purchases in the winter continued to add new faces to the roster. In total, the Pirates will have 13 players they acquired in the offseason on the Opening Day roster, most of them in starting roles.Catcher: The Pirates split the catcher role almost evenly last year between Dixie Howell and Clyde Kluttz. With Howell traded to San Francisco in the PCL, the job now belongs to Kluttz. He will still receive plenty of days off, when rookie Ed Fitz Gerald will fill in. Fitz Gerald hit .363 in the PCL last year and may see increased playing time if that success carries over to the majors.
Infield: The only infielder on the roster returning from last year is starting third baseman Frankie Gustine. Gustine has bounced around the infield during his nine years in Pittsburgh, but last year he finally made the full time move to third. He has has been selected to the All-Star Game in the last two years and hit a career high .297 in 1947. Stevens takes over first following the retirement of Hank Greenberg. Even though Greenberg was struggling at the plate as his age caught up to him, this will still leave a big hole trying to replace his 25 homers and league-high 104 walks. Stevens was the primary first baseman for the Dodgers in 1946 but only played in five games last year. Rojek at shortstop also saw limited work with Pee Wee Reese locking down the position for the Dodgers. The Pirates will now put him at leadoff and believe his speed and glove will make him one of the top shortstops in the league. Second base will see a mix of rookie Monty Basgall, who will make his major league debut on Opening Day, and Danny Murtaugh. Murtaugh led the NL in steals for the Phillies back in 1941 but has only played in nine games over the last four years. Billy Meyer will also make use of newcomers Eddie Bockman and veteran Don Gutteridge.Outfield: With all of the trading done, Ralph Kiner's 51 home runs last season were more than the rest of the position players on the roster on Opening Day combined. After leading the NL with 23 homers the year before in his rookie season, the Pirates expected big things from the young slugger. But no one could have expected his 51 home runs at just the age of 24. Though Greenberg is now gone, his one year on the team paid off in any many ways as he may have trained his successor as baseball's top slugger. While Johnny Mize matched his total for New York, Kiner is only at the start of his career and still has room to grow. Longtime Cardinal and recent acquisition from the Braves, the solid hitter and speedy Hopp will start in center. 37-year-old Walker will start in right, but don't let his age fool you. He has been an All-Star for the last two seasons, including finishing second in MVP voting in 1946, led the league in RBIs in 1945, and won a batting title in 1944. He does not show signs of stopping anytime soon and may have a couple more quality years left, though expect more days of rest. This will allow Wally Westlake back in the lineup, the only player on the roster other than Kiner with double digit homers last year. His rookie season went well so he will still get plenty of playing time despite the suddenly crowded outfield. Max West, a strong player for the Braves around the start of the decade, will also factor in in his return to the majors.Rotation: Gregg was an 18-game winner for the Dodgers in 1945, but he has just ten total wins over the last two seasons. With a wide open rotation, he will still be given the honor of starting the first game of the season. Kirby Higbe was also once a successful pitcher for the Dodgers, leading the league in wins at 22 in 1941 and also winning 17 just two years ago for them. But since being traded from them early in the season last year, he has struggled to win with a weaker lineup behind him as he lost 17 games. Fritz Ostermueller returns at 40, though not on the roster to start the season. The veteran is 41-31 since joining the Pirates four years ago and has never had a losing record in any season over that span, even with the Pirates struggles over the last two years. Older than him as he turns 41 next month, Rip Sewell returns once again to the rotation. Sewell had back-to-back 21-win seasons during the war and hasn't dropped off that much since then, only he struggles to pitch as much with just 32 starts over the last two years. Riddle won 21 games himself in 1943 and had the best ERA in the majors in 1941, but the years since have him on a short leash as a starter with his new team. Riddle has a total of four wins over the last four years and an ERA of 6.96 over that time. One more former 21-game winner, doing so in 1942 for the Yankees, Tiny Bonham returns for his second season in Pittsburgh after a quiet but solid campaign in '47.Bullpen: Lombardi had three good years in Brooklyn and should get some starts, but expect to see him out of the bullpen as the Pirates try to find someone they can turn to to preserve their leads late in games. Mel Queen saw 12 starts for the team last year but will have to prove himself through relief work before earning more. Elmer Singleton and Nick Strincevich also return.Outlook: Back-to-back seasons with more than 90 losses were unacceptable for the Pirates, so the total overhaul of the roster was done to try and put the club back on a competitive track. While the league has already taken notice of Kiner, they may have to look out for the rest of the team with some of the moves made this offseason. The Pirates should be more competitive than they were the last two years, but whether they can compete for a pennant just yet remains to be seen.