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A third of the way through the 2011 season finds the Regina Pirates fighting to climb into 1st place in the CBL Farmers East Division.
A balanced line-up to go along with a strong performance by a veteran pitching staff has the Pirates thinking a playoff birth for this season is within their grasp.
Offense:
Solid hitting from the top to the bottom of the line-up has Regina scoring close to six runs a game, with six hitters already in double figures in homeruns, lead by the leagues leader in HR and RBI man Johnathen Sarrett (22hr 56rbi), veteran Kris Nunn is having another solid season hitting over .330 with 11 homers and 41 rbi, 2B Howie Herring got off to a hot start hitting 4 homeruns in the first series of the season and currently has 13 for the year, more production for SS Suliman Yokley , LF Tyquan Ordenana, DH Angus Jeoffroy, RF Cassidy Genter, and 3B Chris Anderson have led to very few spots in the Pirates line-up that teams can pitch around.
C Stan Stieb, who was being billed as a potential Rookie of the Year candidate has struggled as of late and was relegated to platoon duty with veteran C Savaughn Bottarini, who smacked two homers and hit .429 in his first four games after being injected into the line-up.
Pitching:
Again the word "solid" best describes Regina's rotation with veterans galore in Tony Conway, Bruce Ta, Rutger Amparo, and Freddy Casso, all four could be inline to win 16-18 games this year, and joining them back in the rotation is former Cy Young award winner Hayes Strober, Strober had been sent out to help the fledgling bullpen, but the thought of 5 studs in the rotation at one time was too much for management to pass up, so Jormaire Wrzesinki was sent out to the pen to replace Strober.
The one weakness of the Pirates team may very well be their bullpen, Wrzesinki joins lefty Carlos Fry, longman Hashim Gallus, and closer Tom Shaw in the Regina pen, Gallus, Fry, and Shaw have all had impressive seasons so far, but it's the middle relief to get from the rotation to the set-up and closer that has management worried.
Outlook:
Regina may address their needs in the pen through trade, but then again, since taking over the ship, owner James Howard has yet to make one deal, not one change to the roster outside of signing some AAA caliber free agents and letting go of some veterans who were way past their prime (or never had a prime to begin with), he has instead taken the roster he had and concentrated on putting the right pieces in the right spot, he said he will continue to review the players he has, and try to build from within as apposed to elsewhere, working through the minors and the amateur draft to make Regina the "Scourge of the High Seas" once again.
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