Making a Pitch for the Pirates

Walking around the city of Pittsburgh, it doesn’t take long to realize that baseball fans are slowly waking up from a rumpelstiltskin-esque slumber. We’ve reached the month of June, and the Pirates are only two games back from .500, coming off a promising series against the Philadelphia Phillies in which they won two out of three in front of three full houses at PNC Park. They team has already matched its away record from 2010, and has made phenomenal improvements on its pitching. Alas, it only takes a Pittsburgher oblivious to sports to bring a Buccos hopeful back to earth:

“So, why is everyone so excited about the Pirates, are they doing really well?” my supervisor at work asked me.

“Well they’re only two games back from .500 and its already June!” I responded.

“I don’t know what two games back from .500 means.”

“It means….they’ve almost won as many as they’ve lost.”

“Oh.”

I guess this excitement is reserved for the long-time Pirates fans that will take any success they can get as a sign of progress. But it really did bring me back to earth on what the Pirates’ recent success means in the long run. Once the Pirates actually make it to .500, the city will celebrate like they’ve won a world series. Once we find ourselves yet again watching the MLB playoffs without the Pirates in contention, we’ll all be reminded that .500 is a miniscule landmark in baseball, and reaching championship contention is on a whole different playing field. It’s easily compared our country celebrating the death of Osama bin Laden after 10 years in hiding, before realizing that Al-Qaeda’s forces are still alive and well.

That’s not to say that a young pirates fan can’t dream. I would actually argue that if the Pirates wanted to reach .500 in years past, management could’ve easily pulled the strings. They could’ve picked up several free agents on one or two-year contracts on a mission to make the playoffs for once, if only to appease the dissolving and bitter fan base. But after spending all of their money, trading away a few promising prospects and reaching the playoffs for one year, the team would find itself exactly where it is now, only with a worse farm system. The team is trying to build a core that could, in the long-run, be poised to win a championship. I’d say that the young crew of Andrew McCutchen, Jose Tabata, Neil Walker and Pedro Alvarez is a promising start, but the Pirates improvement on pitching and defense this season is an even more encouraging indication that the team is headed for more than just a .500 plateau.

Behind pitching coach Ray Searage, the Pirates rotation has gone from worst to decent in less than a season. Kevin Correia had heads turning when he became the first pitcher in the MLB to reach 8 wins this season. He is two wins away from matching last season’s record, and his ERA of 3.40 is more than a run lower than his career average. Then there is Charlie Morton, who last year was written off as a bust that couldn’t handle the bigs. In the off-season, he modeled his delivery after Roy Halladay to make a stunning turn-around. The third-year righty now boasts an all-star caliber 2.52 ERA in 11 starts with six wins to boot. These wins, by the way, are coming behind an injured and streaky Pirates offense that ranks 24^th in run support. James McDonald, while he struggles with control in some appearances, has often shown his ability to take over a game. With time and improvement on his control, he has the potential to thrive in the second or third spot in a rotation. Rounded out with lefty Paul Maholm and the silent-but-deadly Jeff Karstens, the rotation currently swanks an ERA of 3.53, good for fifth in the NL. If there’s anything we’ve learned from last year’s championship Giants, a strong rotation is the primary key for playoff success. The Buccos can’t be disappointed with their headway so far this year.

I’ll be honest, I’m not even certain that this Pirates team will finish the season above .500. The lineup is full of young players that still need plate experience before they can gain the consistency and confidence to produce run support for this phenomenal pitching. Also, Pirates fans have to remember that we are entering the dark months of Pirates baseball. Last June, the team went a dismal 5-20 to drop back to the all-too-familiar basement of the league. If anything, this June will indicate the true improvements of the team, and if Buccos pitching is something to take seriously in the coming years. For now, I’ll be taking every inch of progress with world-series-caliber celebration. What do us deprived Pirates fans have to lose?