All records eventually come to an end. At some point, the Pirates streak of losing seasons will have to end as well. For fans in Pittsburgh, a .500 or above record at the end of September would be as rewarding as winning a World Series. Consensus opinion around the city believes that the roster the Pirates have pieced together is not good enough to reach this mark. Call me crazy, but I believe this is the year we stop the streak. Before you stop reading this story and curse my name, remember that I am not saying we are going to the playoffs, I'm just saying we're going to be .500.
Comprising a losing record in 19 consecutive seasons is not a fluke. The Pirates have had some teams that flat out stunk. But with the changing of regime on and off the field, the Pirates will soon return to normality. Neil Huntington's hire of Clint Hurdle was never questioned, and Hurdle has done a great job with the players that he has to work with. Additionally, Ray Searage may be the most underrated coach in all of baseball, as he has taken a make-shift pitching staff and transformed them into one of the best staffs in baseball.
Looking at the Pirates schedule to begin the season, being 16-18 on May 14th is better than most expected. With 13 of their first 25 games against National League playoff teams from a season ago, the Pirates have exceeded early season expectations. The worst of the schedule is over, and we are set to play 25 games combined against the Astros and the Cubs, two of the worst teams in the major league baseball.
Additionally, we are set with interleague series' with Minnesota and Kansas City, teams with a combined 23-44 as of today. Even the rest of the division games are winnable. Milwaukee is having a down season with the loss of Prince Fielder and we have had recent success against the Reds, making the Pirates a viable threat to hit the .500 mark this season.
With the emergence of Andrew McCutchen into arguably a top 10 outfielder in the game, the Pirates are finally getting the pieces in place for a playoff contender. Pedro Alvarez has flashed signs of his true potential, and with Neil Walker and Jose Tabata slated for long major league careers, the Pirates have comprised a solid core players to build around.
With the emergence of Andrew McCutchen into arguably a top 10 outfielder in the game, the Pirates are finally getting the pieces in place for a playoff contender. Pedro Alvarez has flashed signs of his true potential, and with Neil Walker and Jose Tabata slated for long major league careers, the Pirates have comprised a solid core players to build around.
But with a veteran pitching staff including AJ Burnett and Erik Bedard, the Pirates will be within striking distance in almost every ballgame this season as well. With history on the sides of Rod Barajas and Clint Barmes, at some point there will be production from these two players. If Huntington can make another mid-season move to bring in an additional bat, the run production will eventually increase.
The Bucs are only 2 games below .500 despite scoring the least amount of runs in the league. However, this can be attributed partly to the fact that they faced the Phillies and the Braves already this season, the two best pitching staffs in the NL. If the Bucs pitching staff can continue their hot season, the bats will come alive at some point. With a slew of winnable games left on the schedule, there's no reason the Pirates won't contend for a .500 record.
The Bucs are only 2 games below .500 despite scoring the least amount of runs in the league. However, this can be attributed partly to the fact that they faced the Phillies and the Braves already this season, the two best pitching staffs in the NL. If the Bucs pitching staff can continue their hot season, the bats will come alive at some point. With a slew of winnable games left on the schedule, there's no reason the Pirates won't contend for a .500 record.
Pirates losing season will never end as long as Bob Nutting owns the team.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to argue with you sir. Not much excitement has been brought to the city under the Nutting era. But for the first 100 games of the season we were in first place last year. Added two better pitchers and the younger players (cutch, walker, tabata, alvarez) all have more experience and are improving. The division sucks this season the Pirates have a real shot at .500 wheter Nutting wants it or not.
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