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Thursday, April 5
Pittsburgh Pirates preview

ESPN.com

POWER RANKINGS


	Kris Benson finished the season under .500 (10-12), but his ERA was well under 4.00 (3.85).

Strength of schedule
.496, 9th in NL
Lineup ranking
13th in NL
Pitching ranking
16th in NL
Prediction
6th in NL Central

The lowdown
2000 record: 69-93 (5th in NL Central)
Runs scored: 793, 9th in NL
Runs allowed: 888, 12th in NL

Three key issues for 2001
1. Will the last starting pitcher still standing please fill the water bucket. Kris Benson, Jason Schmidt and Francisco Cordova all have health problems with Cordova likely out for year.

2. Who is playing up the middle? Pat Meares or Warren Morris at second? Enrique Wilson or Jack Wilson at shortstop?

3. Is this the year Aramis Ramirez lives up to his potential?

Three key facts
1. Brian Giles became the first player in franchise history to hit .300 with 30 homers and 100 RBI in back-to-back seasons.

2. Pirates pitchers had a National League-worst 5.42 ERA after the All-Star break.

3. With 23 stolen bases last season, Jason Kendall became the first catcher ever to steal 20 or more bases in three different seasons.

RETURNING 2000 STATISTICAL LEADERS

AVG	J. Kendall	.320
HR	B. Giles	35
RBI	B. Giles	123
RUN	J. Kendall	112
SB	J. Kendall	22
WIN	J. Silva	11
SV	M. Williams	24
ERA	K. Benson	3.85
Complete 2000 Statistics: Batting \| Pitching

Dave Campbell's scenarios
Best case: Pitt-chers get healthy.
Three pitchers questionable going into season, if they get healthy, Bucs could get going.

Worst case: Arm-Pitts.
Pitching losses may be too great to overcome.

ESPN.com's lineup analysis
Player	Comment	Pos. rank*
A. Brown, CF	Posted .373 OBP in part-time role last year	9
D. Bell, RF	Subpar power, bad batting average, doesn't walk	15
J. Kendall, C	They should put "baseball player" on back of his uniform	2
B. Giles, LF	Has outhit Griffey past two seasons	2
A. Ramirez, 3B	Young enough (23 in June) to break out big	12
K. Young, 1B	.744 OPS from first baseman not what you want	13
P. Meares, 2B	Beats out Warren Morris for starting position	13
E. Wilson, SS	Rookie Jack Wilson may have inside track to job	11
ESPN.com's pitching staff analysis
K. Benson, RHP	Groundball pitcher, but 2.81 ERA on turf, 5.89 on grass	11
T. Ritchie, RHP	Hammered by lefties: .311 average, .527 slugging	58
J. Schmidt, RHP	Health a concern, but should by ready by mid-April	59
J. Anderson, LHP	3.45 ERA on 4 days' rest (8 starts); 6.17 on 5+ (17 starts)	57
Middle relief	Mulholland, Silva, Sauerback lead this crew	14
M. Williams, CL	Why don't cash-poor team split the saves and save $$$?	13

	Position average (NL rank):	9.75 (13th)
	Pitching index (NL rank):	14.75 (16th)

* Position rank, compiled by ESPN.com's baseball staff, compares each NL team's strength at that position, including platoons, based on players' total projected value (offense, defense, durability) for the 2001 season.

NL position players and bullpens ranked on a 1-16 basis, with 1 being best.
NL starting pitchers ranked on 1-64 basis, with 1 being best. Cumulative rankings of starting pitchers are combined with bullpen and closer for overall pitching index, with more weight given to starters.
In both rankings, 1.00 is the best possible score, 16.00 the worst.

Click here for position-by-position NL rankings.

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