Pirates at Reds Preview

Last night, I wrote up a preview for the Pirates vs. Reds series.  It is now posted over at Red Reporter!

I like this Pirates club a lot more than I expected to coming into this. With one exception, their lineup looks both young and solid, and they have a deep bench that they can use to try to platoon away some of their weaknesses. Their rotation looks solid as well, and includes at least one young guy with a lot of upside. And I like that they are innovative: their aggressive use of the shift last season has been cited as an important reason for their success. In a lot of ways, they remind me of a light version of the Rays. If they can keep inserting useful parts into their pitching rotation, this is a team that can be a major presence in the NL Central for a long time to come.