Should Brock Holt be in the lineup every day?

When Starling Marte made his debut earlier this year, we discovered two things about relying on rookies at the top of the lineup:

1) They can provide a boost of energy and excitement

and

2) There will be growing pains.

So, given that, does Brock Holt provide this Pirates team with the best chance to win at the top of the lineup? I'll argue the answer is yes.

In a must-win statement game against the Houston Astros (the same Houston Astros who beat the listless Pirates the previous day to extend their losing streak to 4), Brock Holt was the star of the show. Sure, Andrew McCutchen re-took the batting title lead with a four-hit night of his own, but it was the young Holt's four hits that captured the collective imagination of Pirates nation. After weeks of suffering through lineups headed by the likes of Jose Tabata and Alex Presley, this Holt-led offense was humming.

It's no surprise really. Despite a rough outing on Monday, Holt has been rolling all year long. Holt cruised through AA this season posting a .322/.389/.432 line for Altoona; but, that wasn't good enough for the breakout star. Upon his promotion to AAA, he became even hotter...way hotter. In 24 games with Indianapolis, Holt elevated his game to a new level posting an incredible line of .432/.476/.537. Not bad for a guy without much power. He had hitting streaks of 5 games and 10 games in only 24 AAA starts. No one in the organization has been hotter of late.

And that's why he's gotta be playing every day. The team has been struggling to find consistency on offense and Holt may just be the spark plug that this group needs. With Holt setting the table for McCutchen (who's been coming around) and Alvarez (recently named NL Player of the Week), this offense has a real chance to win games for them. Also, when they can get an early lead, it seems to settle the starting pitchers down a bit. Look at Wandy Rodriguez's last two starts as exhibits A and B.

Now, Holt is not well-equipped to play shortstop. He's passable there at best. Until Neil Walker is healthy and in the lineup every day, Holt should be at second base. Every. Day. When Walker is healthy, Holt needs to get some starts at short. Barmes is a nice defensive shortstop, but even with these little spurts of life in his bat, he's a liability at the plate. Use Barmes on days when you've got a pitch-to-contact guy on the mound or as a defensive replacement. We're starting to see that at first base, where Garrett Jones gets the bulk of the at-bats, but Gaby Sanchez often spells him in the latter innings to provide better defense. One thing is for certain, as long as Holt is hitting, he's a must-start. He hustles, he gets on base, he makes good things happen. That kind of all-in attitude, that kind of passionate play is infectious. And the best part about it is he plays under control. You'll see him have much better at-bats than Barmes or even the aforementioned Starling Marte. We all know that Marte has more upside and is the more likely player to become a fixture in future Pirates lineups, but right now, Holt is the guy I want at the top of the lineup as the Pirates fight for their playoff lives.

Are the PIrates a bad baserunning team?

It seems like every time I tune into the Pirates of late, somebody is making an out on the basepaths. In particular, speedsters Jose Tabata and Andrew McCutchen have been caught stealing with regularity and Garrett Jones has given a new face to the popular acronym TOOTBLAN (Thrown Out On Base Like A Nincompoop). But, what do the actual statistics tell us?

Well, it's a mixed bag really. Pittsburgh is really bad in the stolen base department. They are last in the NL in steals (56), first in caught stealing (43) and last in stolen base percentage (57%). They are also second in the league in being picked off when there's a stolen base opportunity (1.29%). They're pretty good at taking the extra base (43%), but last in the league in scoring from first on a double (21 times). Remarkably, they are the best in the league in outs on base (30), meaning they don't run into outs much aside from being picked off or caught stealing.

All in all, the Pirates are not as bad on the basepaths as I thought. They are woeful in the stolen base department, and that needs to change; but they aren't making a lot of careless outs beyond that. I feel like I've seen my share of them, but it's likely that the bad ones just stick out in my memory. Plus, you never think about baserunning when the players do what they're supposed to do. Beyond that, the Pirates are pretty good at taking the extra base, tied for fourth in the NL in fact. Hopefully, any missteps the Pirates have made lately are just drops in the bucket. Things better settle down soon, though, as the Pirates need to be firing on all cylinders if they're going to remain in the Wild Card race.

What's up with Cutch?

After a brutal game with lots of missed opportunities, all eyes were fixed firmly on MVP-candidate Andrew McCutchen. With no outs in the ninth and the bases loaded, McCutchen stepped to the plate wearing an 0-4 collar and looking for redemption. Instead of a game-tying base hit, Cutch managed a soft grounder for a forceout. A strikeout by Garrett Jones and another groundout by Josh Harrison ended the game. The Pirates lost to the Cardinals 5-4. Immediately, the questions surfaced: what's up with Cutch?

After some recent struggles, some have speculated that he's been unlucky. After all, his BABIP was pretty unsustainable for most of the season. Others surmised that he is still shaken from the beaning he got in Cincinnati by Aroldis Chapman, which, as the story goes, makes him susceptible to balls down and away. Here's the thing, McCutchen has struggled with pitches down and away all season, especially good sliders. That was true in July when he hit .446 the same as it's true in August when he's "only" hitting .286. Pitchers are simply working him down and away more often and with increasingly positive results. That's why Cutch has been complaining about the strike so often recently. He knows he has trouble getting good wood on those pitches, so he's looking for them to be called balls. And you know what? Sometimes they are called balls. In fact, McCutchen has walked 12 times this month, which is tied for his best monthly total only 18 days into August. Remember earlier this year when we wondered why they still pitched to McCutchen? Well, this is them learning their lesson. Pitch McCutchen hard away, and if you walk him, well at least he didn't beat you.

What McCutchen needs to do is find a way to adjust. He's got to find a way to drive the ball the opposite way and crush mistakes. His OBP is an impressive .420 this month, but it's his slugging that has suffered. He's managed only a .446 rate this month. He's walking, poking singles the other way or buggy-whipping balls over the third baseman; but he's not driving through the ball and generating power. His isolated power is under .200 for the first time since April and he's managed only 5 extra-base hits this month. That's simply not good enough for an MVP. I'm sure he's fatigued; I'm sure he's frustrated; but if this team is going to make the playoffs, he needs to make an adjustment. It's a lot of pressure for a young man, but that's what teams expect from their MVP, let alone the MVP of the league.

Should MLB disqualify Cabrera from batting title?

As of this writing, Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen still holds a healthy lead in the NL batting title race. His .359 average is 13 points higher than Melky Cabrera's .346. Still, as McCutchen has realized lately, it's hard to maintain that kind of an average, even when you're seeing the ball well and squaring it up. That's because in order to hit that well, a player usually has to have a BABIP (Batting Average on Balls In Play) that is unsustainable over the long haul.

Now, the same would be true of Melky Cabrera, except his average is effectively locked in now that he's been suspended for 50 games for PED (Performance Enhancing Drug) usage. Cabrera admitted he took a banned substance in a statement released today. To qualify for the batting title, a player must have a minimum of 502 at-bats; Cabrera currently has 501. Of course, there's a loophole. MLB can award a player "hitless at-bats" to bring the total to 502. Thus, Melky Cabrera would end the season with a .345652 batting average. The real question is, will Major League Baseball prevent this from happening?

Major League Baseball has not shown much stomach for cracking down on PED users outside of suspensions. In fact, MLB ended up reducing the Manny Ramirez suspension by half when Ramirez sought to be reinstated prior to this season. Think about that. Ramirez retired suddenly when he had a second positive PED test rather than face discipline. Then, he was allowed to come back a year later at half of the suspension because some time had passed. It was Manny's decision to buck the system and retire, rather than face a 100-game ban; yet, he was rewarded by choosing the cowardly path. This leniency was granted to a multiple offender of the program.

MLB should be proud of its drug testing program. It works. It has stamped out a lot of the PED use in the game and those still trying to buck the system get caught eventually. But rather than stand proudly by it, MLB gets embarrassed when stars test positive and back off. Well, this is not the time to back off. Cabrera has put up career numbers this year, winning the MVP of the All-Star game and helping to keep his team in playoff contention. That's impressive, but if it was gained improperly, it should not be celebrated. MLB should take a stand and refuse to allow Cabrera to qualify for the batting title. It would be incredibly embarrassing to allow someone who tested positive during the season to win the title with tainted results. I hope Bud Selig is listening, because this is his legacy.