The final midseason report card thingy

Here it is, the end of the mid-season rundown. It's the pitchers.

Ian Snell- Ian Snell is the straw that stirs the drink on the Pirates. I haven't seen a Pirate that hates losing like Snell does since, I dunno, ever. He gets fired up for every start like it's game seven of the World Series. He drove himself to become one of the best starters in the league this year just because no one thought he could do it. I know it's only a couple years into his Pirate career, but Snell has a chance to be my favorite Pirate since Van Slyke. Not kidding.

Tom Gorzelanny- I had high expectations for Gorzo this year, but he's blown them all away. He's not quite been better than Snell and I think he might be out-pitching his peripherals a bit, but screw it. He's only 24 and he's getting better. I'm a bit worried about some high pitch-counts he's rung up and I think it's something to keep an eye on, but I'm not overly concerned. Yet.

Paul Maholm- He got off to a terrible start. Since his loss to the Yankees dropped him to a 2-9 record with a 5.33 ERA, he's actually been decent. Not great, mind you, but much more serviceable. He has a 3.53 ERA in his five starts since then and he's held opposing hitters to a .230 batting average. In 35 and 2/3 innings he's got 23 strikeouts to go with 9 walks and he's only allowed three homers. If he keeps this up, he'll be a downright decent 3 or 4 guy. I've gotta see it for more than five starts though.

Zach Duke- I hope his struggles are due to his arm problems. I want to believe they are. Ask me if I think they are. Go on. Ask me. I don't think they are. He just gives up a ton of hits and doesn't miss bats at all. That's not going to cut it in the big leagues. I hope he figures out what's going wrong on his rehab starts since he won't be back for a while, but I dunno how much minor league competition can help him at this point.

John Van Benschoten- Given all of the arm surgeries he's had, it's a miracle he's on the field. Unfortunately, it's not been a terribly helpful miracle. It's more along the "water to wine" than "raising the dead." Still, I suppose he's better than Tony Armas.

Shane Youman- I don't understand this guy. I wrote a long post about him over the winter in which I concluded that he's just kind of hard to hit and I don't know why. I hate to be terribly rigid about things, but being as involved in science as I am, I like an explanation for things. Youman doesn't strike out a ton of guys and he walks quite a few. And yet, he's had a very successful minor league career and he's been pretty good in two short stints with the Pirates. This guy makes less sense to me than P-chem. I don't expect it to continue, but it wouldn't surprise me if it does.

Shawn Chacon- Surprisingly competent this year. He wasn't great as a starter (save his ten strikeout game that we found a way to LOSE), but he's been pretty solid out of the pen and I guess he's probably the primary set-up guy at the moment. His high WHIP worries me, but he's striking batters out a rate that's a lot higher than his career rate, which is an encouraging sign. I'm happy with him in the pen right now.

Matt Capps- I'll cop to being completely mystified as to how a guy with a 94-mph fastball and little else gets as many guys out as Capps does, but the dude does it. He's been even better than he was in his rookie campaign last year and as long as his arm stays attached to his upper body, I think we've got ourselves a closer for a while.

Damaso Marte- In 36 appearances, he's pitched less than 27 innings. He's been lights out against lefties and not sucky against righties. Unfortunately, I don't think I trust him in a bigger role than the one he has right now. Still, given the bullpen nightmares of this season, I think he's got to get at least a bit of an expanded role in the second half.

John Grabow- Last year was a step forward for Grabow into becoming a competent and useful reliever. Thus far this year has been two steps back.

Salomon Torres- I think his arm injury may have contributed to his poor showing this year. After a pretty bad April, Sully was pretty good in May until he started blowing saves again. I'd love him back in a seventh or eighth inning role if he gets his arm in shape, but he no longer really wants to be here. Not that I blame him.

Masumi Kuwata- I actually like the signing of him, just because of the press it's gotten in Japan and the increased presence of the Pirates over there can't be a bad thing. But he's a gimmick reliever. Bring him in to get one hitter out that has a weakness for breaking stuff and get him the hell out of the game. He's ancient and he doesn't take long to figure out.

Hold your breath for the following

John Wasdin- Sucks.

Tony Armas- Sucks.

Jonah Bayliss- Sucks, but is kind of young.

Josh Sharpless- Sucks, but is kind of young and local.

Brian Rogers- Sucks, but is kind of young.

Marty McLeary- Sucks.

Dan Kolb- Sucked, but is gone now.

Juan Perez- I forgot he even pitched for us this year.