Walk, Walk, Walk Again

I'd like to give the Pittsburgh Pirates bullpen some attention today. Ranked 27th in ERA there's something to be said about the relief corps for the Pirates, namely that they like to walk people, particularly Phil Dumatrait, Tyler Yates, and Evan Meek.

Dumatrait has pitched nearly 21 innings, walking 13, Yates has walked 11 in about 12 innings of work, and Meek has walked a moderate 9 in 11 innings. For those keeping track that's 44 innings and 30 walks or roughly 6.1 per nine innings pitched. To make matters worse for the Pirates reliever Franquelis Osoria has allowed 32 hits in about 19 innings.

Those four combine for 65% of the Pirates relief innings this year and also represent the Pirates problem. The 2006 Pirates pen it's not, however the bright spot of this year's pen could be that at least it's younger guys and not the Dan Kolbs and Ryan Vogelsongs of the world