The Stats Geek

Mr. O'Neill is excited today about the prospects of... well of our prospects. He cites the fact that we can now use players like Daryle Ward as backups and can afford to send down guys like David Ross and Bobby Hill who aren't actually bad. I'd disagree with the Bobby Hill statement, mostly because there are worse players on the team we could've gotten rid of, but the general tone of the column matches everyone else. I agree wholeheartedly with the closing sentiment:

Is there a middle of the order in Jason Bay, Craig Wilson, Doumit and Eldred? Do the Pirates see it that way? It's too early to say, and the Pirates will probably lose more games the rest of the way going with rookies. But I've never been happier to see two Pirates hitting below the Mendoza line than I have with Doumit and Eldred. At least they're up and we're all learning.

We can now finally learn if Doumit really is special. We find out if (as the Geek puts it) Eldred is Cecil Fielder or Steve Balboni (though I hope he gives us more than Cecil's two good years). Is Chris Duffy our own personal speedy, leadoff hitter/centerfielder extrodinaire, or Tike Redman redux? With the recent committment to the rookies we might not win a ton of games, but we may finally get some answers.