Pittsburgh Pirates: When will we wake up?

Wake up? Wake up and see the Pirates are one game out of first place at the All-Star break? Or wake up from this crazy unpredictable dream that Pirate's fans are having. Well folks, this is not a dream. The Pirates are indeed one game out of first place behind the Milwaukee Brewers and the St. Louis Cardinals who are tied at the top of the NL Central.

With the city of Pittsburgh engulfed in the fire that the Pirates are creating, how much longer will it last? Some think this is one ship waiting to sink, while others are loading up the cannons and getting ready to sail into October.

Is it realistic? Can the Pirates, who have the reputation of the failed school boy constantly getting bullied by the big kids on the playground, actually hang around with the big kids in the NL Central in the second half? Or will they be players for the wild card?

If the Pirates are getting in the playoffs they will make it via winning their division. The two best teams in the National League are both in the same division (Atlanta and Philadelphia). They are one game out of first place in the NL Central but six back in the wild card. Atlanta is hot but Philadelphia is on fire. What is it going to take to get the Pirates on top of the National League Central in late September?

Usually around this time in the Burgh fans are talking Steeler's training camp and who the Pirates are going to fork up at the trade deadline. Not whether or not the Pirates are going to trade for a bat to add power to the lineup or if they are legit contenders.

The Pirates offense has not been getting it done in the first half. As of late tho, they have been puling through. They do not have a big power bat in the lineup currently being ranked 23^rd in home runs. With Ryan Doumit and Pedro Alverez coming back to the lineup hopefully soon, they could gain some power off of the injury list. The million dollar question is do they pick up a bat for an arm to have more offense in the late going. Is it worth it tho to give up a good arm for a three month player?

As the Giants showed last season, pitching wins championships. If the team does not score, they do not win. The 2010 World Series champions did not have big power bats, but big power arms. Consistent pitching and playing good baseball won them the World Series.

In baseball unlike football, the playoffs are played in five and seven game series. If a team has three, four or even five concrete pitchers, they can come up with some series wins. This year they will not be sellers at the trade deadline. If the Pirates want a good bat they will have to give up a key arm. It will be interesting to see if the Pirates will give up a part of their future in order to stay in contention this year.

Glancing at the Pirate's schedule around the corner, it looks like a bumpy road. 36 of the 72 remaining games for the Buccos are against teams with records over .500. 23 of those are against the Brewers and the Cardinals.

So when it all comes down to it, if the Pirates are going to be in the playoffs in 2011, their going to have to rely on health, pitching, and luck. At the All-Star break the Pirates are sending three to the All-Star Game (Hanrahan, McCutchen, Correia) and are only 10 wins away from matching their win count from the entire 2010 season.

The Pirates will be fighting for a playoff spot late in the season and will hope to finish better then 34 games out of first place (last year's final standings) and above .500 for the first time since 1992.

Pirates Playoff-bound?

The Pirates this year have shocked a lot people. With a new manager, young roster and bright looking future, the Pirates have been flirting with a .500 record all season. But don't let the record fool you. If you have followed the Pirates at all this season, you know that they do strike out a lot. 561 times this year. Only three teams have struck out more than the Pirates this season including the Washington Nationals (563), the Arizona Dimondbacks (569), and the San Diego Padres who have struck out a Major League worst 605 times. The Pirates do not have a player that started on opening day hitting over .277. Currently, the Pirates team batting average is .238 (27th in the league). At the end of last season they finished with a .242 average, second worse to only the Seattle Mariners (236). The Pirates do have some up-sides as well. They are a division best 16-10 against NL Central teams. They are 11-7 in one run ball games and 3-3 in extra innings. They have already won 20 road games opposed to only 17 the previous season. The Pirates are currently 35-36 and four games back in the division. This time last year, the Buccos were 25-44 and 13 games back. Much improved to say the least. The Pirates keystone to there surprising record is there pitching staff that has also turned around. Starter Kevin Correia is one of only 15 pitchers with 8 or more wins. The Pirates have three pitchers in the top 43 in ERA this season including Jeff Karstens (7th-2.54), Charlie Morton (37th-3.21) and Paul Maholm (43rd – 3.29). Pirate's closer Joel Hanrahan is having a remarkable year as well. He is one of eight closers with 19 or more saves. Since 1969, only two Pirates (Mike Williams and Jose Mesa) have notched 20 saves by the All-Star break. Pirate starters have thrown four complete games so far. And if you will the Pirates are 6th best in the league when it comes to hitting batters. As a staff, they have only plunked 19 batters. So are the Pirates playoff-bound this season? I think not. Although the Pirates are playing with .500, they are only 2-4 in inter-league games with 9 more games to go. All against AL East teams. The Pirates don't fair well against NL West teams either and they have four more NL West teams to play this year. The only thing keeping this pirate ship afloat this year is pitching. Their offense is inconsistent and their stats prove that. With a tough schedule around the corner after the all-star break the Pirates are going to have to step up the offensive production and stay consistent if they want to be at or above .500 at the end of the year. Playoffs is a word that Pirate's fans do not hear all too often. In the coming years, I believe that that one, two syllable word will be coming up a lot here in the Burgh.