Pittsburgh Pirates Wake Up Call: The HAPPening

Welcome to the Pittsburgh Pirates Wake-Up Call, a daily feature here at RumBunter.com. Every morning at 9 AM, one of us will give you our random thoughts on the goings-on around the Pirates’ organization, and we’ll throw out a few links to some good Pirates-related items from around the web.

The HAPPening

Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Last night, J.A. Happ had another stellar start for the Pirates. Going 5.2 innings, allowing one run on five hits and striking out two. He didn’t garner the swings and misses like he did in his previous two starts, he was still very good again. He was pulled a bit early, but I think that’s more Clint Hurdle‘s trust in our absolutely tremendous bullpen.

Lately, Hurdle has seemed much more willing to pull starting pitchers before they get into trouble. This seems especially true for Happ. When you have one of the best bullpens in the league, it’s okay to “over-manage” a little bit. Good on Hurdle for using all the tools at his disposal.

Soaring to new heights

The Pirates won last night 4-3 over the Colorado Rockies and while that itself isn’t an accomplishment, with the victory, the Pirates are 30 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 1992 season when they were 96-66. A winning season is no longer a surprise and we’ve been to the post season two years in a row, but this still feels like a big deal to me. I’ve watched Tike Redman bat third. I’ve seen Matt Lawton as the Opening Day right fielder. I’ve seen Ian Snell demand to be sent down to the minors because he hated pitching in Pittsburgh. Now, I’ve seen the Pirates go to 30 games over .500. In my wildest dreams of a winning season, I never would have expected the Pirates to soar to these heights. I know it’s frustrating that despite the success we’re still second place in the NL Central but let’s just take a moment to enjoy how much fun this baseball season is.

Seriously lets just take a moment to remember where the Pirates have been. It’s August 30^th and the Pirates are 79-49. Lets look back at some other Pirates records on August 30^th, shall we?

2010: 43-88

2006: 53-81

2000: 53-78

Those are just three random seasons during the 20-year losing streak and look how far we’ve come, guys. If you ever feel frustrated about being second place despite being 30 games over .500, just look at those records. We’re one of the best teams in baseball and damn it’s awesome!

Greg Brown’s home run calls are just the best

Aramis Ramirez kick started last night’s victory with a first inning, three-run home run. The Pirates didn’t do much offensively after that, but it’s still good to see A-Ram getting his swing back. He’s quietly been very productive after his slow start to his second Pirates go around. In August he’s hitting .277 with two home runs and 18 RBI. Plus his defense has come around lately too. He might not be a gold glove caliber player, but he shouldn’t hurt you too much when he’s at the hot corner.

The funny thing about last night’s win was it had Neal Huntington’s finger prints all over it. Aramis Ramirez homered, J.A. Happ had another stellar start and Michael Morse had a pinch hit single. Lots of people were angry about the Pirates’ moves at the trade deadline, but they’ve arguably had the most success of anyone since the deadline. Their moves have worked and helped the team win a lot. It’s been really fun to watch. If you still feel annoyed the Pirates didn’t make some huge splash move and go “all in” just look at this:

Record since trade deadline:

All In Blue Jays: 20-5

Doesn’t want to win Pirates: 19-7

Hopefully that gives you a little perspective on just how good the Pirates have been in the month of August.

Around the web

Joel Sherman goes over the top 30 moves of 2015 and to the surprise of no one, the Pirates are all over this list. They occupy four of the top 30 spots.

Matt Gajtka of DK on Pittsburgh Sports recaps the Pirates win last and looks at J.A. Happ and Aramis Ramirez.

The Times Online asks if the 2015 Pirates could be like the 1960 club?

Next: Pittsburgh Pirates Minor League Minute - August 29th