2003 Pittsburgh Pirates Baseball Graphs Review

The 2003 Pirates actually weren't that bad a team. They came out of the gate slowly, but played about .500 ball after May, despite a lot of changes (including the subsidization of the Chicago Cubs).

Continuing the theme, the Pirates were also slightly below average in FIP and DER, but only slightly. Their real Achilles heel, it turns out, was fielding. The only player who even came close to the top in fielding Win Shares at his position was Jack Wilson, who was 8th at shortstop. David Pinto ranked Pittsburgh shortstops somewhat below league average.

Kip Wells had a very good year as a starter, and Julian Tavares did the job out of the bullpen. Jeff Suppan pitched well before being traded. Nelson Figueroa was okay, but only because of a high DER. Don't look for that to continue.

The Pirates were one of the most consistent teams in the league. In fact, only their Cardinals had a lower variance against average wins per ten games played. That's pretty remarkable, considering how the Pittsburgh management traded away Suppan, Giles, Lofton, Ramirez and Simon.

The Pirates' poor start was primarily due to poor offense. When the offense finally started to pick it up, the pitching and fielding went downhill. It wasn't until mid-May that both halves got it together.

August was quite a month for the bats. Batters who had a strong second half included Kendall, Sanders, Craig Wilson, Tike Redman, Jason Bay and Matt Stairs.

Pittsburgh Pirates' Win Shares

Player          Team    Pos     Hit     Field   Pitch   Sum     WS	
--------	----	----	-----	-----	-----	-----	---	
J Kendall       PIT     C       16.85   3.55    0.00    20.40   20	
B Giles         PIT     OF      16.18   2.51    0.00    18.69   19	
R Sanders       PIT     OF      15.28   2.31    0.00    17.60   18	
K Wells         PIT     P       0.00    0.00    15.70   15.70   16	
M Stairs        PIT     OF      11.51   1.01    0.00    12.52   13	
J Suppan        PIT     P       0.20    0.00    11.62   11.82   12	
J Wilson        PIT     SS      6.21    5.09    0.00    11.30   11	
C Wilson        PIT     OF      8.57    1.57    0.00    10.14   10	
J Tavarez       PIT     P       0.00    0.00    9.91    9.91    10	
A Ramirez       PIT     3B      6.98    2.51    0.00    9.49    10	
T Redman        PIT     OF      7.92    1.54    0.00    9.46    9	
K Lofton        PIT     OF      5.94    2.86    0.00    8.79    9	
R Simon         PIT     1B      5.79    0.53    0.00    6.32    6	
J D'Amico       PIT     P       0.00    0.00    5.80    5.80    6	
J Reboulet      PIT     2B      2.98    2.73    0.00    5.71    6	
R Mackowiak     PIT     OF      4.61    1.01    0.00    5.62    6	
S Torres        PIT     P       0.00    0.00    5.48    5.48    5	
A Nunez         PIT     2B      1.51    2.92    0.00    4.44    4	
J Fogg          PIT     P       0.00    0.00    4.17    4.17    4	
J Bay           PIT     OF      3.53    0.40    0.00    3.93    4	
S Sauerbeck     PIT     P       0.00    0.00    3.37    3.37    3	
B Meadows       PIT     P       0.00    0.00    2.86    2.86    3	
N Figueroa      PIT     P       0.00    0.00    2.75    2.75    3	
B Boehringer    PIT     P       0.00    0.00    2.32    2.32    2	
M Lincoln       PIT     P       0.00    0.00    2.28    2.28    2	
J Beimel        PIT     P       0.00    0.00    2.03    2.03    2	
M Williams      PIT     P       0.00    0.00    1.97    1.97    2	
J Hernandez     PIT     3B      0.00    1.94    0.00    1.94    2	
P Reese         PIT     2B      0.28    1.53    0.00    1.81    2	
K Benson        PIT     P       0.00    0.00    1.70    1.70    2	
M Corey         PIT     P       0.00    0.00    0.93    0.93    1	
A Hyzdu         PIT     OF      0.37    0.46    0.00    0.84    1	
K Young         PIT     1B      0.57    0.17    0.00    0.73    1	
P Mahomes       PIT     P       0.00    0.00    0.61    0.61    1	
C Rivera        PIT     1B      0.28    0.17    0.00    0.45    0	
J House         PIT     -       0.30    0.00    0.00    0.30    0	
B Hill          PIT     2B      0.24    0.02    0.00    0.26    0	
J Grabow        PIT     P       0.00    0.00    0.24    0.24    0	
J Davis         PIT     OF      0.00    0.17    0.00    0.17    0	
R Vogelsong     PIT     P       0.11    0.00    0.00    0.11    0	
H Cota          PIT     C       0.00    0.05    0.00    0.05    0	
M Gonzalez      PIT     P       0.00    0.00    0.00    0.00    0	
J Mann          PIT     P       0.00    0.00    0.00    0.00    0	
O Perez         PIT     P       0.00    0.00    0.00    0.00    0	
D Reyes         PIT     P       0.00    0.00    0.00    0.00    0	
D Sanchez       PIT     P       0.00    0.00    0.00    0.00    0	

Five of the top 13 Win Share leaders were gone by the end of the year. Jason Kendall was the third-ranked catcher in the league, according to Win Shares. Let's hope Craig Wilson plays on a full-time basis next year.