{"id":815691,"date":"2018-05-17T15:15:44","date_gmt":"2018-05-17T19:15:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/?p=815691"},"modified":"2018-05-17T15:17:10","modified_gmt":"2018-05-17T19:17:10","slug":"pittsburgh-pirates-need-ace-pbd11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/pittsburgh-pirates-need-ace-pbd11\/","title":{"rendered":"Do the Pittsburgh Pirates even really need an “Ace?”"},"content":{"rendered":"
The bullpen has come together nicely and they\u2019ve seen some good things from everyone in the starting rotation at one time or another this season.<\/p>\n
Whether the Bucs can continue to contend or take a huge step backwards will depend on how well the five guys in the rotation perform the rest of the year.<\/p>\n
Without a certified ace of the staff, the Bucs could very well find themselves in fourth place and out of contention in a month just as easy as they could still be sitting atop the National League Central.<\/p>\n
The major question though is can the Pirates continue to survive without an ace?<\/p>\n
Quite simply, they are going to have to.<\/p>\n
If the Pirates are in first place come the trade deadline, there will be no move to add the top of the rotation starter to take this team over the hump.<\/p>\n
Call it cheap if you want, but that\u2019s just not the MO of this franchise.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ve had opportunities in the past and didn\u2019t pull the trigger and this year won\u2019t be any different.<\/p>\n
There won\u2019t be a Justin Verlander<\/a>-type addition to push this team to the next level.<\/p>\n And there doesn\u2019t have to be.<\/p>\n The Bucs are scoring over five runs per game and while they may not stay on that pace all season, this offense is more than capable of scoring runs all year long.<\/p>\n When you can do that, you can still give up three or four runs per game and win most nights.<\/p>\n While the Bucs don\u2019t have a certified ace, they do have capable arms.<\/p>\n Ivan Nova<\/a>, Jameson Taillon<\/a>, Trevor Williams<\/a>, Chad Kuhl<\/a> and Nick Kingham<\/a> have all looked like the best pitcher on the team at one time or another this season.<\/p>\n