The Pittsburgh Pirates are 53-50 on the season. They sit 3.5 games back of the second Wild Card spot and seven games back of the division lead. This team has a run differential of +5 with 59 games remaining.
By winning 13 of their last 15 games, the Pirates have gone from irrelevancy to contention quicker than I can ever remember. It has honestly been the craziest stretch of baseball I have ever witnessed. This team has been Jekyll and Hyde to the max this year. My takes on this team have been up and down as well. 26-17. 14-31. 13-2. Those three stretches have led to a 53-50 record thus far.
This team hasn’t just been beating opponents lately. They’ve been smashing the crap out of them. The offense has been white hot, scoring runs early and in bunches. This has allowed the starting pitching to be aggressive and attack the zone. Because of that, they’ve been going deeper into games and eating innings. The bullpen has gotten ample rest, another positive.
Everything has been working lately. The key word being lately. What can we expect from this team in the final 59 games? The 11-game win streak was snapped yesterday. Tonight, we’ll get to see how this team reacts to their first loss in just over two weeks when they take on the New York Mets at home.
Honestly, I truly don’t know what this team is. Obviously they aren’t 13-2 good but they aren’t 14-31 bad either. Nothing would really surprise me during the final two months of the season.
A few things are certain for the 2018 Pirates. Outfield production is the key to the overall offensive production for this team. The starting pitching is average to slightly above average. This bullpen has the potential to be great. They have multiple young arms with thunderous stuff. That doesn’t mean they aren’t subject to getting absolutely blasted at times. Because that happens too.
Adding a starter, bullpen arm, and middle infielder would certainly help this team and better their odds to get into the dance. But do we really think, even after witnessing this tremendous stretch of baseball, that this team can actually pull this off? A playoff berth? This year? After playing so horribly for so long earlier in the season? Man. I don’t know.
I’ll say this though. I am captivated. Part of me thinks that the Pirates can play .600 ball the rest of the way. Part of me thinks the Pirates have the best outfield in the National League. That the starting rotation has turned a corner and the bullpen is elite. That Josh Bell is breaking out of his cocoon and becoming the hard-hitting gap to gap .300 hitter that we always projected him to be.
But then again, I just watched this team win 11 straight games. Everything went right. This is baseball. Not everything is supposed to go right. This team will come back down to earth. They might have already with yesterday’s loss. What will this team be when not riding the highs of an incredible hot streak? Will they remain in the race or wilt away like they did for almost two months of the season?
It is July 26. We are almost two thirds of the way through the 2018 season.
I have no idea what the Pittsburgh Pirates are. And you know what?
I kind of like it.
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