The Dream Is Over... For Now

I'll begin this the same way I began my last post: Wow.  That's the only word that comes to mind.  When I look back on what has taken place in the Pirates organization since the end of the 2012 season, all I can say is, wow.

Pittsburgh was a baseball town before it was ever a football town.  The Pirates were playing (and winning) World Series before the Steelers existed.  Baseball used to be king around here.  During the twenty year losing streak, all of that was erased.  The Pirates became a city-wide (and nation-wide) joke.  There was one Pirates jersey worn for every thirty Steelers jerseys.  The Pirates were accomplishing nothing, and nobody cared.  That's what makes the last year so incredible for this team.  They made Pittsburgh into a baseball town once again. The fact that they were able to do that, despite being the laughingstock of Western PA for two decades, means something truly amazing must have taken place.  Let's take a look at this amazing season.

It started last winter.  The Pirates were coming off another late season collapse.  Any baseball passion that had been rekindled around here had been crushed.  Many called for the team's front office, led by GM Neal Huntington, to be fired.  Owner Bob Nutting presented an ultimatum: either the Pirates would win in 2013, or people would get fired.  Many thought the current management team was hopelessly incompetent, and were essentially hoping we would lose just so they would be fired.  Huntington had other ideas.  He would prove them all wrong.

The Pirates had what must have been (correct me if I'm wrong) the best offseason in team history.  Huntington scraped together what seemed to be spare parts from around baseball, who all turned out to be stars.  Russell Martin was a defensive prowess behind the plate, Mark Melancon was lights out out of the bullpen, Jeanmar Gomez turned out to be a stellar long-reliever, and of course Francisco Liriano rose up to be the team's ace on the mound.  We didn't know it at the time, but Huntington set the Pirates up for success long before Opening Day.

The regular season was a six month dream for fans who haven't seen winning baseball in their lives (like me).  We got off to a fast start, posting twenty wins in April.  One memory I have from PNC Park in the very early stages of the season was a comeback win vs. the Cincinnati Reds, in which we were down 5-0.  This set the stage for the rest of the season, in a way.  The Pirates made comeback wins their trademark.  Any deficit of four runs or less in a ballgame was not worrying from a fan's point of view.

The Pirates' success this year came from their pitching, as it has for each of the past three years.  Francisco Liriano was a revelation.  He was dominant from the moment he made his debut at the beginning of May, all the way up until his last playoff start five days ago.  He was especially prolific at PNC Park, posting a 1.81 ERA there.  He quickly became the team's stopper, putting an end to any losing streaks, or getting a much needed win against a division rival.  AJ Burnett came back as less of a dominant ace, and more of a scrappy, get-it-done-somehow type of pitcher.  That style suits him well, in my opinion.  Charlie Morton returned from his Tommy John recovery about midway through the season, and was very impressive.  Jeff Locke faded down the stretch, but I still appreciate his impressive stuff from the first half of the season.  Gerrit Cole exceeded all expectations that came with his billing as our top prospect.  He came up in mid June, and pitched six shutout innings.  He consistently has a fastball that sits at 98 MPH, and his curveball has improved by leaps and bounds.  Down the stretch in August, September, and October, he was especially impressive and crucial to the team's success.

This season was full of pitching gems, walkoff wins, incredible comebacks, packed PNC Parks, Greg Brown outbursts, and so many memories.  I'm not mad that we didn't win the World Series.  Yes, I wish we beat the Cardinals.  We were bested.  We went down honorably.  I'm proud of this team.

Besides, there's only optimism for the Pirates' future.  With almost all of the core players on contract, this team will only get better.  Of course, it wouldn't hurt to resign Marlon Byrd, and maybe AJ Burnett.  Besides them, all the key players on the field, in the rotation, and in the bullpen are locked up. Top prospect Jameson Taillon (starting pitcher) seems to be poised to make his MLB debut next season. If you want to know what to expect, he's been rumored to be better than Gerrit Cole.  If that's true... Wow. OF Gregory Polanco had a breakout season with AA Altoona. He will be bursting onto the scene in 2015, maybe even as a September callup in '14.  And if you want to look way ahead, pitchers Tyler Glasnow, Luis Heredia, and outfielder Austin Meadows all appear to have bright futures.

It looks like we're in for many fun summers to come at PNC Park.

Why The Pirates Are So Good This Year

The Blog is officially back from Summer break.  We left off at the beginning of June. The Steelers were distant memories, the Penguins were still in shock from their playoff loss to Boston, and the Pirates were holding their own in the NL Central.

Since then, the Pirates have gone from "holding their own" to being one of the best teams in baseball. As I write this, at 6:30 on August 22nd, they sit in 1st place in the NL Central, one game ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals and two games ahead of the Cincinnati Reds.  The Buccos sport a record of 74-52. They need just eight more wins to ensure their first winning season since 1992.

The past twenty seasons have been filled with disappointment.  At the end of each year, naturally, the fans look for places to assign blame. At the end of each of the past four seasons, fans and media have consistently ripped on Neal Huntington, the Pirates' general manager.  People complained that he didn't do enough at the trade deadline to set the team up for success, and they ridiculed his offseason moves.  There's no telling how this season will end for the Bucs, but one thing is for sure: Neal Huntington has done all that he could.  Here's a look at how he set these 2013 Pirates up for success.

Lets start with his offseason moves.  There were two gaping holes in the roster: catcher and starting pitcher.  First, they went out and signed free agent pitcher Francisco Liriano.  Liriano was once a highly successful pitcher, although he hadn't performed well over the past couple years.  Huntington and the Pirates' staff saw potential in him, and they signed him.  This story took a weird turn, when, on Christmas Day, Liriano broke his (non-pitching) arm while playing with his kids.  They reworked the contract, and eventually settled on a new one.  The injury ended up costing Liriano the first month of the season.  He made his Pittsburgh debut on the mound in early May, and impressed early on.  Since then, he has established himself as the staff ace, and forced himself into National League Cy Young discussions, with his 14-5 record and 2.53 ERA.

Another major offseason acquisition was catcher Russell Martin.  The catcher position was one of the biggest weak spots for the Pirates in 2012, with Rod Barajas as their No. 1 catcher.  He struggled mightily offensively and defensively, recording outs on only 6% of attempted steals against him.  Martin was coming off of an off year with the New York Yankees, and expectations weren't very high.  Martin was one of the biggest surprises this year for the Bucs, posting a .248 batting average, .350 on-base percentage, and 11 home runs.  He has been no stranger to clutch hitting, racking up four walkoff hits so far this season.  Defensively, he has been one of the best catchers in the NL, throwing out 27 batters so far, causing base runners to think twice before stealing.

There was one big trade in the offseason.  When the trade was announced, many were unenthusiastic.  It looked like we would break even, if we were lucky.  Over the past 5 months, the trade proved to be one of the most important moves to ensure success in 2013. The Pirates traded their elite closer, Joel Hanrahan, and infielder Brock Holt to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for reliever Mark Melancon, and prospects Ivan de Jesus, Jerry Sands, and Stolmy Pimentel.  First of all, trading Hanrahan meant dropping his salary, which allowed the team to re-sign Jason Grilli, who would become the closer in place of Hanrahan. Grilli became the agreed-upon best closer in the NL, posting 30 saves through the end of July.  Mark Melancon moved into the setup role (pitching the 8th inning, to set up for Grilli), and quickly became one of the best relievers in all of baseball, posting a .93 ERA over 58 appearances.  Stolmy Pimentel and Jerry Sands have been progressing with AAA Indianapolis.  This trade was so instrumental to the Pirates' success this season.

You can credit the farm system, for bringing up great prospects like Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte, Pedro Alvarez, Gerrit Cole, and others.  You can credit manager Clint Hurdle for working his confidence magic yet again with this team.  But GM Neal Huntington deserves one heap of credit.  After last season's failure, he went out and made several moves to boost this team to an elite level.  Now buckle up, and lets watch this team finally fight for a playoff spot.