Can we expect JMac to get back on track?

Today begins an extremely important series for the Pirates against the division-rival Cardinals. St. Louis begins the day just one game back of the Pirates and the final Wild Card spot. Taking the bump for the Pirates is first-half ace James McDonald. But that makes the Pirates faithful more uneasy than confident. No Pirates starter has struggled as much as JMac since the All-Star break.

The numbers are ugly: an 8.71 ERA, a .321 BA against and 21 walks in 31 innings. Things have gotten so bad that there was some talk of moving the erstwhile ace to the bullpen. Still, the struggles seem more mental than mechanical. McDonald will breeze through a couple of innings before losing concentration and giving up a big hit. Then, things fall apart. It reminds one of the pre-2012 James McDonald: lots of promise, very little consistency.

McDonald addressed this in a recent interview with Pirates Prospects' Kristy Robinson:

“I just got to keep focused throughout the entire start,” McDonald said. “I can’t lose focus. That one pitch might be a game changer. Just really try to keep focused on every pitch one pitch at a time, one batter at a time. Don’t try to get ahead of myself.”

As I mentioned in my recent post discussing the staff's collective issues in August, there are two men that can help JMac right the ship: pitching coach Ray Searage and fellow starter A.J. Burnett. Searage put McDonald through an extra side session recently and focused on rhythm and timing. The hope being that JMac can get into a flow on the mound and not get distracted as easily or thrown off his game. Burnett, in the meantime, called a clubhouse meeting the day before his most recent start to help re-focus the whole team and regain a winning mentality. Burnett pitched a gutsy game yesterday, earning a win and being a stopper for the Pirates, despite not having his best stuff. That kind of performance doesn't look great in the stat books, but it can help motivate a floundering team. JMac was pitching best when he was going back-to-back with Burnett in the rotation. Burnett has become a real mentor for McDonald and and he attributes much of his early-season success to Burnett's influence. Maybe following Burnett's gritty win will help JMac get back to his dominant self. The Pirates could sure use that kind of a boost going into their biggest series of the season. Their 20-year playoff hopes hang in the balance.

Are Pirates pitchers having another Dog Days dip?

Last year, the surprising Pittsburgh Pirates were in first place as late as July 25. Then, came the epic collapse, Jerry Meals and all. The face of the Pirates' struggles was the pitching staff. Injuries and inconsistency plagued a staff that had carried the Pirates from pretender to contender and allowed the front office staff to be buyers at the trade deadline for the first time in nearly two decades. The ineffectiveness of that staff during the Dog Days of August made the team pretenders once again.

This year's team has followed a similar pattern. Strong pitching led the team into contention, but struggles on the mound have muddied the waters in August. The Pirates are still clinging to the last Wild Card spot, but they've been losing ground quickly. The starters have struggled collectively since the All-Star break. Only A.J. Burnett has consistently delivered. Erik Bedard has showed some signs of improvement, but has been wildly inconsistent. Jeff Karstens and newcomer Wandy Rodriguez have also struggled to find consistency. Worst of all, first-half ace James McDonald has had a disastrous second half, leading some critics to call for his removal from the rotation. Kevin Correia, relegated to bullpen duty upon the arrival of Rodriguez, has now been inserted into an expanded six-man rotation to take some pressure off of the struggling rotation during a brutal stretch of 20 consecutive games without an off-day in August. That, of course, leaves a hole in the bullpen, meaning the Pirates are forced to keep a long man like Jeff Locke around at the expense of a solid middle-man like impressive rookie Jared Hughes.

Last season, the Pirates pitching staff posted a 4.04 ERA with a 1.41 WHIP overall. During their drudge through August, they managed only a 5.36 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP. This season, the results are similarly disconcerting. The staff has an impressive 3.66 ERA on the season, but only a 4.58 ERA in August. There are some encouraging signs, though, unlike last season. Pirates pitchers have posted a 1.18 WHIP this month, as opposed to their 1.26 WHIP on the season. They've also continued to post a nice K/9 rate of 7.81. The real trouble has been home runs. The staff has already allowed 18 HR this season. That's more than they allowed in the entire month of April (13). Instead of stranding runners, they're giving up big longballs in unfortunate situations. So, beneath the surface at least, it seems the staff has been a bit unlucky and could round back into form at any moment.

It's appropriate to be concerned about the rotation, especially after what happened last year; but, this is a more veteran staff and some of the peripheral numbers indicate that things aren't quite as bad as they may seem. I expect Ray Searage, along with clubhouse leader A.J. Burnett, to help right the ship and that we will soon be thinking of this early-August dip as merely a slump. Still, it would be wise for everyone in the Pirates clubhouse to heed the season-long advice of their skipper and get focused on one word: finish.