With 17 losing seasons and counting, the Pirates will definetly need guys to step up this season. Guys that are young and have yet to do something special. There is one guy in particular that will need to have a step-it-up year hitting 2nd in the batting lineup. That man is second baseman Akinori Iwamura.

Iwamura made his MLB debut in 2007 as a 28 year old rookie for the Tampa Bay Rays. He started out his career by playing in 123 games for the Rays. He hit 7 HRs with 34 RBIs and 82 runs scored. He had a decent .285 avg. with 140 hits, 21 doubles, and 10 triples. The very next year he played as an all-time starter for the Rays with 152 games played. Despite playing more games, he had one less HR with 6. His batting average also dropped at .274 and 48 RBIs with 91 runs scored. He also had 172 hits with 30 doubles and 9 triples. His plate discipline got worse over these two years, but everything else improved, due to playing more games.

Last year, Iwamura only played 69 games after a torn anterior ligament which ended his 2009 season. Iwamura only hit one homer and had 22 RBIs with 28 runs scored because of the injury. Although he did have a .290 avg. which was an improvement. He had 67 hits, 16 of which were doubles and 2 triples. So, after his 2009 season, Iwamura improved his plate discipline, but no one knows whether or no Iwamura will improve anymore. That's the real question here...can he step it up?

Well looking into the 2010 season, Iwamura is very optimistic. Talking about his injury through an interpreter, Iwamura said "It feels very good, but it's still not 100 percent, but I proved last year I can still play at a high level. I think I can play just like I did in the World Series. It will be fine next season, completely healthy." At age 30 though, is Iwamura really healthy and ready to go? We will find that out in spring training.

Iwamura is a decent on-base type that is fairly consistent. He doesn't hit many homers nor steal many bases, though. He is the guy that I think needs to be the most improved player for the Pirates to break this losing streak. He needs to hit at least .295 and hit about 10 homers to be called an improvement. If he can live up to those small expectations and stay healthy, he will be a nice little help to guys like Garret Jones, Andrew McCutchen, and Ryan Doumit in their quest to break the 17.