2008 Pittsburgh Pirates season

The 2008 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 127th season of the franchise; the 122nd in the National League. This was their eighth season at PNC Park. It was the first under new president Frank Coonelly, general manager Neal Huntington, and manager John Russell. Unable to improve on their 68–94, last place finish during the 2007 season, the Pirates had not had a winning record or made it to the playoffs since 1992, and finished 67-95 for their 16th straight losing season. The season was the final of play-by-play announcer Lanny Frattare, whose 33-year tenure as Pirates' broadcaster was the longest in franchise history.

Regular season

On November 5, 2007, John Russell was introduced as the Pirates manager, replacing Jim Tracy. Team management cited three areas that the franchise hoped to improve: "refocused emphasis on fundamentals", holding players to a higher standard, and signing younger players. The Pirates won their season opener against the Atlanta Braves, by the score of 12–11, in 12 innings. The Pirates played their home opener against the division-rival Chicago Cubs on April 7, losing 10–8, also in 12 innings. The Pirates started out the season with a 7–7 record after the first half-month; however, after a five-game losing streak they began to struggle, finishing out April with an 11–16 record. The Pirates losing continued as they dropped three of four to the Washington Nationals to begin May. The team fought back, winning six straight games—the most consecutive since 2004, to bring their record within one victory of a.500 record. Throughout the remainder of May the team struggled, but never fell more than four games under.500. Throughout the early months of the season closer Matt Capps was perfect, getting saves in 15 consecutive opportunities. However, on June 10, Capps gave up a two-run home run to the Nationals, losing his first decision of the season. In addition, Capps would blow saves in two of his next three appearances; however, he achieved his first win of the season after an extra-inning victory over the Baltimore Orioles.
Pittsburgh went 6–9 in interleague play, including two wins against the New York Yankees who returned to Pittsburgh for the first time since the 1960 World Series. On July 12, in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals, the Pirates came back to win a game that they trailed by six runs in the seventh inning. It was only the second time in the past 25 years that the Pirates won at home after scoring runs in the seventh, eighth, ninth, and extra innings. The Pirates finished out the remainder of July with a 6–9 record—50–58 overall. On the final day of July, the Pirates made a deal with the Yankees to send outfielder Xavier Nady and pitcher Dámaso Marte in return for Jeff Karstens, Daniel McCutchen, Ross Ohlendorf and José Tábata. Later in the day the team became involved in a three-team deal in which the Pirates sent Jason Bay to the Boston Red Sox in return for four players from the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Pirates won seven of the first 18 games in August before dropping ten consecutive games to close out the month. Pittsburgh entered the final month of the season 21 games below the.500 mark. On September 7, the Pirates lost their 82nd game of the season, tying them with the Philadelphia Phillies as the only two franchises in professional sports history to have losing records in 16 consecutive seasons. The Pirates concluded their season on September 28 with a victory against the San Diego Padres. The team became the second in the Pirates' 122-year history to have no pitchers to win 10 games. The performance of the pitchers lead the team to fire pitching coach Jeff Andrews after the season.

Detailed records

Month	Games	Won	Lost	Win %
March	1	1	0		12	11
April	26	10	16		116	149
May	28	15	13		148	136
June	27	12	15		121	150
July	26	12	14		136	152
August	28	7	21		82	150
September	26	10	16		120	132
Total	162	67	95		735	880

Statistics

;Hitting
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player
	2	6	3	0.500	0	1
	1	2	1	0.500	0	1
	55	3	1	0.333	0	0
	41	6	2	0.333	0	1
	89	327	108	0.330	13	57
	116	431	137	0.318	15	69
	58	160	47	0.294	0	7
	5	7	2	0.286	0	1
	106	393	111	0.282	22	64
	125	285	79	0.277	2	30
	152	597	165	0.276	26	94
	90	183	50	0.273	1	20
	87	305	83	0.272	1	22
	145	569	154	0.271	9	52
	136	492	133	0.270	25	85
	42	116	30	0.259	1	10
	37	109	27	0.248	4	15
	107	314	76	0.242	12	44
	102	228	52	0.228	8	44
	22	67	15	0.224	0	3
	45	158	35	0.222	6	23
	79	206	45	0.218	3	20
	40	118	25	0.212	2	18
	35	5	1	0.200	0	1
	31	57	9	0.158	0	1
	50	108	17	0.157	0	2
	49	164	25	0.152	3	12
	5	7	1	0.143	0	0
	9	14	2	0.143	0	0
	31	48	6	0.125	0	1
	30	65	8	0.123	0	3
	20	28	3	0.107	0	3
	19	21	1	0.048	0	1
	3	3	0	0.000	0	0
	32	4	0	0.000	0	0
	48	1	0	0.000	0	0
	14	8	0	0.000	0	0
	71	1	0	0.000	0	0
	5	6	0	0.000	0	0
	9	6	0	0.000	0	0
	15	0	0	—	0	0
	16	0	0	—	0	0
	44	0	0	—	0	0
	9	0	0	—	0	0
	11	0	0	—	0	0
	10	0	0	—	0	0
	70	0	0	—	0	0
Team Totals	162	5,628	1,454	0.258	153	705

;Pitching
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player
	5	18	1	1	9.82	10
	5	22	0	4	9.67	9
	9	22	1	3	10.48	21
	3	10	0	2	10.45	6
	5	22	0	3	6.35	13
	13	17	1	0	8.47	9
	43	60	4	3	6.08	31
	15	15	0	1	6.60	16
	1	6	0	0	3.00	4
	31	185	5	14	4.82	87
	31	164	7	12	5.42	135
	14	34	2	4	5.29	13
	35	41	4	3	6.10	34
	21	105	6	9	6.66	67
	10	13	0	0	4.05	3
	9	51	2	6	4.03	23
	58	56	1	1	4.76	42
	21	78	3	4	5.26	52
	31	206	9	9	3.71	139
	72	73	6	3	4.66	63
	32	45	2	2	4.14	24
	9	13	0	1	6.92	7
	49	53	2	3	3.02	39
	47	46	4	0	3.47	47
	74	76	6	3	2.84	62
	16	15	1	4	7.47	7
Team Totals	162	1,455	67	95	5.08	963

Awards and honors

Xavier Nady named National League Player of the Week for the opening week of the 2008 regular season.
Ryan Doumit was named the co-National League Player of the Week, along with Ricky Nolasco, for the week of June 9.
Nate McLouth was elected to the 2008 National League all-star team. He batted 1–4, and threw a runner out at home plate from center field in the 11th inning, stopping the game-winning run.
Jason Bay was selected as the winner of the Chuck Tanner Award for "professionalism, cooperation and availability to and with Major League writers best assists them in carrying out daily responsibilities."
Nate McLouth received the Roberto Clemente as "the Pirates player who best exemplifies the standard of excellence achieved by Clemente."

Transactions

Pre-season

On November 5, 2007, the Pittsburgh Pirates hired John Russell as manager.
On November 7, 2007, the Pittsburgh Pirates promoted Bryan Minniti to director of baseball operations, hired Greg Smith as director of scouting and hired Kyle Stark as director of player development.
On November 9, 2007, the Pittsburgh Pirates named Chuck Tanner as a senior advisor to the baseball operations department.
On November 16, 2007, the Pittsburgh Pirates declined contract option for César Izturis.
On November 20, 2007, the Pittsburgh Pirates hired Tony Beasley as third-base coach, Gary Varsho as bench coach and Luis Dorante as bullpen coach.
On November 21, 2007, the Pittsburgh Pirates hired Jeff Andrews as pitching coach.
On November 27, 2007, the Pittsburgh Pirates hired Don Long as hitting coach.
On November 28, 2007, the Pittsburgh Pirates lost Shane Youman off of waivers to the Philadelphia Phillies.
On December 3, 2007, the Pittsburgh Pirates claimed Josh Wilson from the Tampa Bay Rays and Ty Taubenheim from the Toronto Blue Jays off of waivers.
On December 6, 2007, the Pittsburgh Pirates acquired Evan Meek from the Texas Rangers due to the Rule 5 draft.
On December 7, 2007, the Pittsburgh Pirates traded Salomón Torres to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for Marino Salas and Kevin Roberts.
On December 12, 2007, the Pittsburgh Pirates signed free agent Chris Gomez to a 1-year contract.
On December 21, 2007, the Pittsburgh Pirates signed Jorge Velandia, Michel Hernandez, Miguel Perez and Mike Thompson to Minor League contracts.
On January 7, 2008, the Pittsburgh Pirates signed Adam Bernero and Elmer Dessens to Minor League contracts.
On January 11, 2008, the Pittsburgh Pirates signed T. J. Beam, Raul Chavez and José Macías to Minor League contracts.
On January 14, 2008, the Pittsburgh Pirates re-signed Adam LaRoche to a 1-year/$5 million contract.
On January 17, 2008, the Pittsburgh Pirates re-signed José Bautista to a 1-year/$1.8 million contract.
On January 18, 2008, the Pittsburgh Pirates re-signed Xavier Nady to a 1-year/$3.35 million contract and John Grabow to a 1-year/$1.135 million contract.
On January 23, 2008, the Pittsburgh Pirates signed Jaret Wright to a Minor League contract.
On January 24, 2008, the Pittsburgh Pirates signed Hector Carrasco and Casey Fossum to Minor League contracts.
On February 1, 2008, the Pittsburgh Pirates claimed Ray Olmedo off of waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays.
On February 5, 2008, the Pittsburgh Pirates re-signed Freddy Sanchez to a 2-year/$11 million contract.
On February 11, 2008, the Pittsburgh Pirates signed New York Yankees free agent Doug Mientkiewicz to a Minor League contract.
On February 24, 2008, the Pittsburgh Pirates signed free agent Byung-hyun Kim to a 1-year/$850K contract.
On February 26, 2008, the Pittsburgh Pirates lost Ray Olmedo to the Philadelphia Phillies off of waivers.
On March 16, 2008, the Pittsburgh Pirates resigned Ian Snell to a 3-year contract.

In-season

On March 26, 2008, the Pittsburgh Pirates announced the retirement of Masumi Kuwata, released Byung-hyun Kim, Hector Carrasco and Juan Perez and acquired Tyler Yates from the Atlanta Braves in exchange for Todd Redmond.
On March 31, 2008, the Pittsburgh Pirates signed free agent Jason Davis and Matt Kata to Minor League contracts and released Josh Sharpless.
On April 4, 2008, the Pittsburgh Pirates signed Matt Capps to a 2-year/$3.05 million contract.
On May 1, 2008, the Pittsburgh Pirates released Olivo Astacio.
On May 8, 2008, the Pittsburgh Pirates acquired Jason Michaels from the Cleveland Indians in exchange for a player to be named.
On June 4, 2008, the Pittsburgh Pirates signed Franklyn Germán to a Minor League contract.
On June 25, 2008, the Pittsburgh Pirates acquired Denny Bautista from the Detroit Tigers in exchange for Kyle Pearson and released Kevin Thompson.
On July 10, 2008, the Pittsburgh Pirates traded Craig Wilson to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for a player to be named, acquired Dan Reichert and Ryan Mulhern from the Cleveland Indians in exchange for cash considerations and lost Bryan Bullington to the Cleveland Indians off of waivers.
On July 26, 2008, the Pittsburgh Pirates acquired José Tábata, Ross Ohlendorf, Jeff Karstens and Daniel McCutchen from the New York Yankees in exchange for Xavier Nady and Dámaso Marte.
On July 31, 2008, the Pittsburgh Pirates traded Jason Bay to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Brandon Moss and Craig Hansen from the Boston Red Sox as well as Andy LaRoche and Bryan Morris from the Los Angeles Dodgers.
On August 21, 2008, the Pittsburgh Pirates traded José Bautista to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for a player to be named.
On August 27, 2008, the Pittsburgh Pirates lost free agent Elmer Dessens to the Atlanta Braves.
On September 2, 2008, the Pittsburgh Pirates released Ty Taubenheim.
On September 24, 2008, the Pittsburgh Pirates signed Pedro Alvarez to a Major League contract.

Draft picks

Rd	#	Player	Pos	DOB and Age	School
1	2	Pedro Álvarez	3B		Vanderbilt University
2	48	Tanner Scheppers	RHP		California State University, Fresno
3	79	Jordy Mercer	SS		Oklahoma State University
4	114	Chase d'Arnaud	SS		Pepperdine University
5	144	Justin Wilson	LHP		California State University, Fresno
6	174	Robbie Grossman	OF		Cy-Fair High School
7	204	Benji Gonzalez	SS		Puerto Rico Baseball Academy and High School
8	234	Jeremy Farrell	3B		University of Virginia
9	264	Matt Hague	3B		Oklahoma State University
10	294	Drew Gagnon	RHP		Liberty High School

;Note

''Age at time of draft.''

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: VSL Pirates