Winners of eight of their last nine, there is no team that went into the all star break hotter than the Pittsburgh Pirates.
One week prior to all thirty clubs taking a hiatus in play, Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Neil Huntington spoke to the media about the current state of his club and what their intentions were at the deadline.
“We need to make up some ground in a short period of time and then we need to show that we can continue to do that,” said Huntington. Otherwise, we get to a point in time where we start to take a realistic look at this club.”
Though no players were present when Huntington said the comments above, his message certainly made its way into the Pirates locker room. Following their GM demanding the club to make up some ground in the standings on July 8th, the Pirates would go onto do just that; ending the first half of the season on a six game win streak that placed them 5.5 games out of the second wild card spot.
Still work to do
While their recent steak may have been impressive, the Pittsburgh Pirates still went into the break with a 48-49 record and five teams ahead of them in the wild card race. However, with their recent rival of offense and solid performances from both the starting rotation and bullpen, one would have to wonder if the all star break came at the wrong time for the Pittsburgh Pirates?
The all star break has always been looked at as a period of time where most players can get some much needed time off to recuperate for the second half of the season. However, for the Pirates this time off could potentially lead to more bad than good.
As Durham Bulls legend (and fictional character) Crash Davis once said, “Never **** with a winning streak”. In a 162 game season, the teams who can find the most consistency will be the one that also find the most success. After a first half of many ups and downs this young Pirates roster looked to have finally found just that.
The team’s new lineup with Corey Dickerson, Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco at the top has proven to produce runs. Players like Josh Bell and Josh Harrison who had been slumping on and off all year were both showing very positive signs of once again becoming their old reliable selves. Finally, after many late innings of hair pulling and agony, the Bucs have seemingly found a successful back end bullpen combination with Edgar Santana, Kyle Crick and Felipe Vazquez.
Just like when an individual player gets on a hot steak they should never be taken out of the lineup, when a team like the Pirates gets as hot as they were the last thing they should want is time away from the game where they can potentially cool down. It feels as if after seeing the Pirates get beat round after round, they finally had the rest of the league on the ropes. Yet just before they could deliver the big knock out punch to get completely into the mix, the bell or in this case, the all star break has saved their opponent.
It is unclear how things will go for the Pirates in the second half of the season. As a team who is still a game under .500 I firmly believe that they are and still should looking to sell at the deadline. However, with seven of their next 10 games being against the Cincinnati Reds and the New York Mets, things could indeed change if the Pirates are able to match the level of play that they had displayed in their previous home stand.
Time will tell if the break helps or hurts the Pirates. The time off could add more fuel to their fire or it could end their season all together. If the Pirates once again win eight of their next 10, they will enter the final day of the deadline at 56-51 and will certainly put pressure on the front office to get them a few players to help them make a post season push. However, if they come out of the break sloppy and lose their first two series against the Reds and the Indians, you can guarantee this team will start selling away pieces, which will lead them into a free fall similar to the one they experienced in late May; thus ending their season.
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