Surprises for the Pittsburgh Pirates at the 40 game mark

The Pittsburgh Pirates just completed their 40th game of the season. What are some of the surprises, both good and bad, so far in 2016?

As hard as it is to believe, the Pittsburgh Pirates have just played their 40th game of the season, a mark indicating that a quarter of the season is already in the books. With a record of 22-18, the Pirates trail the Chicago Cubs by 6.5 games in the division. While the Cubs do have a substantial lead at this point in the season, the Pirates need to just focus on taking care of their own business and not worry about what the North Siders are doing. With that being said, let’s take a look at a few of the positive surprises at this point of the season and a few of the disappointments.

The Good

• Great production from the outfield: While Andrew McCutchen’s batting average is not where fans are used to seeing it (.248), he is leading the team in home runs with eight. But the other two outfielders, Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco, have really turned it on this season. While the home run total is down for Marte, he is on pace to break his personal best in stolen bases. Polanco has made incredible strides as a hitter, posting a BB/K of 25/29, an improvement on what he had done so far in his career. The best part is that all three outfielders are locked up through at least 2018.
• Veteran bats brought in late in spring training: Both David Freese and Matt Joyce were looking for a team late into spring training, and luckily for the Pirates they decided to sign with Pittsburgh for 2016. Freese did a fantastic job filling in for Jung ho Kang while he was injured and now has moved across the diamond to spend more time at first base. Joyce has been a great bat off the bench and has slugged some meaningful home runs the first quarter of the season.
• Jordy Mercer turning a corner?: Last year in 430 at-bats, Mercer slashed .244/.293/.320 with three HR and 34 RBI. This year though 134 at-bats, he has totaled a line of .284/.380/.343 and a home run and 15 runs driven in. While he has slowed down a little after a very hot start to the season, Mercer is on his way to post some of the best numbers since 2013.

The Bad

• The Bullpen isn’t as strong as in the past: Neal Huntington has always been good at building a bullpen heading into the season, but so far this year the trend may be reversing. Tony Watson has been good and so has Jared Hughes in his limited appearances this season, but some of the stalwarts from the past have been shaky. Mark Melancon has scuffled a little and Arquimedes Caminero has been all over the place with his pitches. Outside of those four pitchers and Neftali Feliz, every other pitcher that has come out of the bullpen this year has an ERA over 4.00.
• Francisco Liriano scuffling: The starting rotation has also seen some regression, but it’s surprising that it’s Liriano. While the team shouldn’t be surprised by Jeff Locke’s performance so far or that the league has figured out spring training darling Juan Nicasio, there may be some concern with Liriano. He is striking out more than a hitter an inning, which is encouraging. But he is walking hitters at a higher rate than in any of his seasons in Pittsburgh so far. His struggles would not be so glaring if the other starters were pitching well (outside of Gerrit Cole), but that is not the case. Hopefully he’ll return to the form that he has shown in the past.
• Was the Neil Walker/Jonathon Niese trade a mistake? Another starting pitcher that has been struggling mightily is Niese, who was brought to Pittsburgh in the trade that sent Neil Walker to the Mets. With a record of 4-2, on the face of it it appears that Niese has been doing a decent job. But in his eight starts he has only made it to the sixth inning in half of them. He is also giving up more than a home run per start. With Walker crushing the ball for the New York Mets, Niese is making this trade look like a win for New York.

So there you go, some of the surprises, both good and bad, at the quarter mark of the season for the Pittsburgh Pirates. But what do you think? Was there a player or event from the first quarter of the season that was left off? Let us know in the comments!