State of the Pittsburgh Pirates 2.0: Still Hanging On

Hello, all. The 2017 Major League Baseball regular season is nearing the halfway point. It has been an eventful one thus far for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Since their 2016 campaign ended in St. Louis, the Bucs have had their best power hitter get arrested for drunk driving. They have also had their best outfielder popped for Performance Enhancing Drugs, and one of their best starting pitchers diagnosed with testicular cancer. All of this has had a significant effect, as the Pirates sit at a modest 36-42. Despite the poor record, Pittsburgh is, theoretically at least, in the hunt as far as the National League Central division is concerned.

Through solid starting pitching and an offense that has it’s moments, Bucs have been able to hang around. As of this writing, they are just four games out of first place, and with Starling Marte coming back soon and the schedule getting softer, things could get interesting.

Last month, I broke down the season through the first 32 games. Here is an updated version of that article. The categories that I go over will remain the same, but some of the names will change. Without further ado, here is the second edition of the “State of the Pirates.” Let’s get into it.