A Review of the Pittsburgh Pirates Season Since the Halfway Mark

Now that the season is about 75% over, it’s time to do a quarterly check in on the Pittsburgh Pirates one last time in 2015. Heading into Saturday’s action, the Pirates sit at 72-48, 4.5 games back of the division leading St. Louis Cardinals. But much has happened since the review at midseason, so let’s dive right in.

Neal Huntington was active at the July 31st deadline, first acquiring a familiar face in Aramis Ramirez on July 23rd to help out the left side of the infield that was hit with injuries to Josh Harrison and Jordy Mercer. Huntington was not done, bringing in Joakim Soria on July 30th to upgrade the bullpen. He also acquired Joe Blanton to work as the long man out of the bullpen and Michael Morse to platoon at first base. On July 31st the team found out that A.J. Burnett would be shelved due to an injury and a deal was made to bring in J.A. Happ. Then after The Baltimore Orioles DFA’d him, the organization brought back Travis Snider on a minor league deal well in August. He was a solid outfield option during his first stint with the team and he could see playing time as the season winds down.

While none of these moves can be filed under “flashy”, they all made sense given the situation the team was in at the deadline. The injuries to Harrison and Mercer meant that Jung Ho Kang would play one position and someone else would occupy the other position, which is why Ramirez was brought back. Soria and Blanton both bring playoff experience to the bullpen and will help out as the team pushes to make their third consecutive postseason appearance. Morse adds a strong bat off of the bench on days that he is not starting. Happ should be able to do an adequate job in the rotation in the absence of Burnett.

The success of the Pirates this season can be attributed to the great play of stars Andrew McCutchen, Gerrit Cole and Starling Marte. But there have been a few players that have really stepped up in the last few weeks who make the idea of catching the Cardinals a little more plausible.

When Kang was signed by the Pirates, management did the right thing by deciding to gradually exposing him to the league. He was given starts here and there throughout the early part of the season and showed that he was able to play at this level. Kang proved to be a strong option off the bench and showed he could be a good substitute if an injury occurred to any of the infielders outside of first base.

Well, in a span of just a few days, the Pirates lost both members of their left side of the infield when Harrison tore a ligament in his thumb sliding into second and Mercer was knocked out of action on a slide by Carlos Gomez. Since the injuries to both players, Kang continued to flourish as the team’s third baseman and then as the shortstop after the acquisition of Ramirez. At this point Kang has become a vital part of the team’s offense and should stay in the lineup even when Harrison and Mercer return. Winning the National League Rookie of the Year Award is also on the table if Kang can keep up this pace.

Gregory Polanco is player who, after scuffling through the first few months of the season, has exploded in August. In the series at St. Louis, he went 7 for 12 and in the following series in New York he went 7 for 19, including his 7th home run of the season. Polanco has taken an aggressive approach at the plate lately, swinging at the first pitch more often than not, and usually finding a way on base. He will make Clint Hurdle think twice about removing him from the leadoff spot, even when Harrison returns from his rehab assignment.

Another lefty that has been heating up is Pedro Alvarez, who since August 11th has smashed 4 home runs. He still looks lost at first base at times, but the power he brings to the plate is absolute. While Alvarez is probably the most criticized player by the fan base and his status with the team past 2015 is unknown, his powerful swing can do a lot of damage to opposing pitchers and could give the Pirates that strong power bat in the middle of the lineup during the stretch run.

Mark Melancon and Tony Watson, the duo that hold down the back end of the bullpen certainly deserve to be mentioned. Melcancon is tied with Trevor Rosenthal for the MLB lead in saves (38). Watson is striking out almost a batter per inning (53 in 56.1 innings). So when everything lines up for Hurdle and he can deploy his relievers in the order he wants, the late innings of games against the Pirates can be very difficult for opposing lineups.

While the Pirates have certainly played well all season, confirmed by their record and +73 run differential there are areas that could be improved upon, especially since the team is trying to catch the Cardinals.

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One area that has been a troublesome is the backend of the rotation and this became even more apparent once A.J. Burnett hit the disabled list at the end of July. Both Charlie Morton and Jeff Locke can look brilliant in one inning and in the next see things unravel quickly. The recently acquired Happ was awful in his first start but pitched much better in his second and third starts, limiting the opposition to just one run over 11.1 innings to go along with a 10/3 K/BB ratio. The best case scenario is that Burnett returns and slots into the third spot in the rotation and pitches close to what he did before the injury. However this is not a guarantee, so better starts from the two players who stay in the rotation out of Morton, Locke and Happ will be needed.

Another area that needs to improve is the base running, which was evident on Wednesday when Polanco ran into an out between third and home. Giving away outs on the base paths is a recipe for disaster, but fortunately for the Pirates they have been able to overcome these gaffes for the most part and keep on winning.

With about a quarter of the season remaining, the Pirates are in great shape to make the playoffs for a third consecutive season. They are sporting the third best winning percentage in baseball, but unfortunately if they do not catch the Cardinals it will all come down to the Wild Card game again. There are six games remaining against St. Louis, so winning the division is certainly not out of reach. Even if they do not win the division, good baseball down the stretch could put the Wild Card game back in Pittsburgh for a third consecutive year. And as the Cincinnati Reds found out in 2013, PNC Park can be a very difficult place to play in October.

Next: West Virginia Black Bears series wrap-up v. Doubledays

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