Pittsburgh Pirates: All-Star Break Review and Look Forward

The All-Star break has arrived, and for some teams it couldn’t be sooner.  For some teams, they didn’t want the break to hit anytime soon.  Others couldn't wait for the break to relieve them of bad losing streaks. 

Two teams I can think of would be the Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Mets.  The Rays are on a seven-game losing streak and the Mets are on a nine-game win streak.  A break could mean disaster for the Mets and relief for the Rays. 

Those are the two extremes but, a lot of teams are in between.  One of those teams would be the Pittsburgh Pirates. 

The Pirates hit the All-Star break with a 44-50 record.  That is nothing to be pleased about unless you are the Bucs.  This is the best their record has been at the All-Star break in recent years. 

Last year they were 40-48 then took an immediate dive, going 2-14 after and killing the season once again.

Past being the past, let’s look at this season and what is to come for the Bucs.  Following is the season rewind and a look forward about moves and where they are going to end up.

Many people—especially fans such as myself—think this is a season where the Bucs have overachieved. 

Offensively is where many people expected this team to struggle, with the lack of a strong center fielder, a struggling Adam LaRoche, inconsistent Jason Bay, and the lack of a power hitting third baseman. No one expected this team to be scoring runs. 

In fact, the pitching was considered to be this team’s strong point, with a group of young pitchers that can throw the ball and are still learning how to "pitch," not just throw. 

A month into the season perceptions quickly turned.  The starting pitching was showing no signs of consistency and the offense was producing runs. 

The bullpen was considered the strong point 1/3 of the way through the season, until the inconsistency started to show with Yates and Capps, and Osoria started to lose it. 

With the inconsistency of both the starting staff and the bullpen, the Pirates have acquired the worst ERA in the MLB.  When are fingers going to start to point to Jeff Andrews, the new pitching coach?

With a record of 44-50 with the worst ERA in the entire league, you can't help but have some respect for that offense. 

With the emergence of Nate McLouth, Xavier Nady, and Jason Bay that offense is finding way to produce.  Jack Wilson, gone for much of the season due to injury, has come back and is now hitting above .300.  The power of switch hitting catcher Ryan Doumit provides a boost as well.

All this offense is coming with a struggling Adam LaRoche, Freddy Sanchez, and Jose Bautista. 

LaRoche is showing signs of heating up in the second half as usual.  Sanchez has been nothing but a disappointment, batting a measly .226.  Jose Bautista is a fantastic utility player with great defensive skills, but his bat is nothing but inconsistently average. 

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