The Pittsburgh Pirates are gaining momentum

The Pittsburgh Pirates are starting to get their sea legs after a disappointing road trip to start the season.

The first series with the Cincinnati Reds was a hard fought battle that unfortunately ended in a sweep. I didn’t see any red flags in that series other than that the Reds got the big hits at the most important times and the Pirates did not. It was a fairly evenly matched series for the most part with two games decided by just one run.

The following series against the Milwaukee Brewers was important as the Pirates traditionally struggle against the Brewers; starting off 1-5 or even worse 0-6 to start the year would have been grossly demoralizing. The bounce back was swift and effective. Despite a hiccup in game two, the Pirates dominated the beer-makers and took two of three in convincing fashion.

As I predicted they would in my last article, the Pirates lost two of three at home to the Detroit Tigers. This again was nothing more than a product of the Tigers being the hottest team in baseball coming into this series and the Pirates trying to hold off the onslaught.

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Entering that series at PNC Park, the Tigers had outscored their previous two opponents 47-16 over a six-game win streak to start the year. They outscored the Pirates seven to five in the three game series, which I think is an accurate micro chasm of the talent levels on both teams; the Tigers have a slight advantage, but it’s close. Aside from the bats disappearing in the last two games of the set, there were plenty of positives, especially how Francisco Liriano, Gerrit Cole, and A.J. Burnett were able to shut down arguably the best offensive team in the league.

The Tigers were averaging close to eight runs a game coming into PNC Park. They scored seven total in three games against the Bucs.

Pitching is what wins championships and even though the Pirates endured much criticism for not signing another pitcher in the offseason, the starting rotation has shown that it will once again be a strength for the team, including Jeff Locke, who continues to be the most underrated pitcher in the dugout.

There were very few people outside of that locker room that had confidence that Jeff Locke would be able to perform this season. In fact, most so-called local experts predicted he would be nothing short of a disaster.

My question is why?

Let’s not forget that Jeff Locke was arguably a top three starter in the National League in the first half of the season just two years ago. He was an all-star and was masterfully dealing quality starts game after game. Sure, he got fatigued in the second half, but so what? He has proven that he has all-star-level stuff in his pitching arsenal. There is no disputing that.

Locke’s game is textbook. He has two fastballs that he leverages on righties and lefties: a two-seamer and a four-seamer. He controls the inside of the plate with precision and the only Pirate that has a better changeup is Liriano. Jeff Locke’s changeup is a plus-pitch averaging ten to 11 mph less than his fastball, which is a perfect diparity. He has had some trouble spotting it at times this year, but once he locks in on that he will only improve.

Pitching is what wins championships and even though the Pirates endured much criticism for not signing another pitcher in the offseason, the starting rotation has shown that it will once again be a strength for the team, including Jeff Locke, who continues to be the most underrated pitcher in the dugout.

Despite Mark Madden’s claim that Locke is a ‘soft-tosser’, whatever that means, Locke has a fastball that averages 90.7 mph this year and has been consistently in that area his entire career. The average major league fastball traditionally stands at around 92 mph. So you do the math.

In addition to the performance of Jeff Locke, Francisco Cervelli has performed admirably as a fill-in to Russel Martin. While Russel Martin was enduring an 0-for-20 slump in Toronto, Cervelli has hit safely in seven of nine games he has played in this season and is putting up a .300 average; it wouldn’t be a stretch to say he has been the most consistent bat in the lineup so far. Aside from the hitting, what is more impressive to me is his receiving ability.

Cervelli’s ease behind the plate was a welcome surprise. He frames pitches much better than I had anticipated and has an extremely soft glove. What I mean by that is that the glove stays in the same spot when the catch is made. That is an invaluable asset to a pitcher who is working the corners. Many times in less skilled catchers the momentum of the ball will take the glove out of the strike zone after the catch. Cervelli sticks the pitch much better than he gets credit for which results in more strikes called.

As I also predicted in the last article, the Pittsburgh Pirates will finish this homestand very strong against the Brewers and the Cubs. Look for a sweep today and a series win against the Cubs. The Pirates will be around .500 by the end of the month and will be poised to make a move to the front of the class by the all-star break.

But that’s what we expected this year.

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