The Pittsburgh Pirates are 20-16 this season, one game back of first place in the NL Central. The team was 11-4 to start the season. They are 9-12 since. Over the next 14 games, the Pirates have a chance to make some moves in the standings.
Beginning last night, the Pirates will be at the Chicago White Sox (9-24) for two games. They then come home for nine games to face the San Francisco Giants (19-16) for three, White Sox for two more, and San Diego Padres (13-23) for four. To round out this stretch, the Pirates will travel to Cincinnati for a three-gamer with Reds (8-27).
These four teams have a combined record of 49-90. Only the Giants are not out of contention. I don’t want to say the Pirates should win nine or ten of these games because winning baseball games are difficult.
But they should. These teams stink.
The next two weeks or so will be crucial for the Pirates. Following this stretch cupcakes, the schedule will take a turn. Starting on May 25, the Pirates will host the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs for three each. They then travel to St. Louis for four more before returning home to host the Los Angeles Dodgers. ‘
Talk about a stretch of contenders. Thankfully the schedule will lighten up after those 13 games, right?
No. Not at all, really. The following six games get even harder. The Pirates will play at Wrigley for three. To finally wrap up these 19 games from hell, the Pirates will travel to the hot desert for a three game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Some hitter notes…
- Francisco Cervelli is an early season MVP candidate. Yes, really. In 115 plate appearances, he’s hitting .302/.400/.552 with five home runs, five doubles, and two triples. His hard contact rate is up about six percent from last year and nearly ten percent from career norms. His fly ball rate is up about 22 percent from last year. Cervelli is a new hitter. Pirates’ fans have their fingers crossed that he can stay healthy all season.
- Colin Moran has quietly impressed as a rookie this season. In 118 plate appearances, he’s hitting .284/.373/.412 with two home runs and seven doubles. More power will come. He currently ranks third on the team in hard contact rate (minimum 80 PA) behind Cervelli and Gregory Polanco. Yes, that includes Corey Dickerson. Moran is getting the ball in the air but his HR/FB ratio is low at eight percent. The home runs will come.
- Starling Marte hasn’t been the same hitter he once was in 2016 and the years prior. Before the 2017 season, Marte never had a hard contact rate below 29.1 percent. In 2016, his hard contact rate was 34.7 percent. In 2017, that rate dropped to 26.2 percent. This season, it has dropped to 24.1 percent. We all know that Marte pinched for PEDs last season and suspended 80 games. I’m not ready to correlate the juice to his lack of hard contact just yet, but my attention has been caught. Ironically, Marte is hitting more fly balls this year than he ever has at any point in his career.
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