Ian Snell started off this season like a ball of fire but he has had a rough time since the All-Star Break.  In the 2nd half of the season, Snell has started 13 games and he is 2-7 with a 5.40 ERA and a 1.57 WHIP.  In 78.1 innings, Snell has allowed 94 hits, walked 29 batters and whiffed 73.  Overall, Snell’s numbers look solid.  He has started 30 games this season for the Pirates and he is 9-12 with a 3.92 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP.  In 195 innings he has allowed 198 hits, walked 62 batters and whiffed 166.  The Pirates are now 66-85 on the season which is good for 5th place in the N.L. Central, 12.5 games behind the Cubs and Brewers and 1 game ahead of the Astros.

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The Pirates have not played that well this season as they are 64-81 which has them in 5th place in the National League Central, 10.5 games behind the Brewers.  The important thing for the Pirates is that they now are 1/2 game ahead of the Astros.  They are only 1.5 games behind the Reds for 4th place.  If the Pirates could play good enough to finish in 4th place that would give them some momentum heading into the 2008 season.

Josh Phelps has been outstanding since the Pirates signed him during the season.  He has played in 46 games for the Pirates and he is 24 for 63 (.381 avg, 1.201 OPS) with 12 runs scored, 5 homers and 16 RBIs.  The Pirates would probably love to re-sign him as a bat off of the bench for the 2008 season.  He has played in 82 games this season with the Yankees and Pirates and he is hitting .315 with 20 runs scored, 7 homers and 28 RBIs in only 143 at bats.

The Pirates have fired GM Dave Littlefield after the continued years of losing on his watch.  In his defense the Pirates have not been spending money to compete despite having all the revenue from the fairly new stadium in Pittsburgh.  The Pirates have named Brian Graham as the interim GM.  Expect him to just finish this season as he is also partly to blame for the extended poor performance of the Pirates.  After all, he has been the Director of Player Development for the Pirates for a while.