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Pirates' Offensive Failures Extend Into Minor Leagues

Hey, you know how the Pirates' offense is incredibly terrible? Well, don't expect the Bucs to turn to their Class AAA team in Indianapolis for help. Indianapolis has been shut out in its last four games, and has scored one run in its last six games. Indianapolis has the worst OPS in the International League, at .628 (although a couple teams have scored fewer runs).

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More to the point, there aren't a lot of players on the Indianapolis roster who could be reasonably expected to provide much help. Starling Marte needs time to develop, and while Jake Fox, Jordy Mercer (who was recently injured) and Jose Morales are all worth keeping an eye on, there isn't much reason to expect any of them to provide huge upgrades.

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In fact, the Pirates' failure to hit extends throughout much of the organization, as you have to get all the way down to Class A West Virginia to find a team that has a few dynamic hitting prospects. (West Virginia has Josh Bell, Alen Hanson and Gregory Polanco, among others.) That doesn't speak well of Neal Huntington's performance as a general manager. He has prioritized pitching, and has often gotten decent results in that area, but that's only one side of the game.

Photographs by dizfunk used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.