The New Era for the Pirates

The new era for the Pirates, in my opinion started 4 years ago.  That’s when they had an opportunity in the NL Central.  They had a chance to get into the playoffs, they had a chance to end that painful streak that started as a sucker punch when that guy, the former pirate that I can’t say his name, crossed the plate and the umpire shouted safe.  What followed were body blows as pieces of the nucleus left the team and finally the uppercut that knocked the Pirates into a 20 year coma, Barry Bonds departure.

But that season 4 years ago was different. There was nowhere to go, but up after they ended up at 57-105 the previous year.  Andrew McCutchen was in his third season.  Clint Hurdle took over as the Manager after John Russell was let go.  The Pirates started coming out of that long coma they had been in and the faithful that had watched those miserable seasons were awakening too.  The plan that Nutting, Huntington and Coonelly had put together was breaking some of the rust off of the machine.  The pieces were being acquired to get the rest of the pieces lubed and moving freely.  McCutchen, Neil Walker, and Pedro Alvarez were in the opening day lineup.  The Pirates ended up in fourth place in the Central with a record of 72-90.  But, the first half of the season was something for the faithful to hang their hats on.  They competed with the best in the division and were in 1^st place several times including July 18.  I think they would have finished much better than they did if it hadn’t been for a crushing defeat in a 19 inning game that was partially the fault of an umpire named Jerry Meals.  Again, it was a home plate incident with the Braves.  Meals called Julio Lugo safe at home when he was clearly out.  That, in my humble opinion, caused the crash of the 2011 season.  It sure didn’t help that an already shaky pitching staff was decimated with injuries.  So, the 2^nd half collapse continued the losing streak, but signs of winning were there.

In 2012, otherwise known as the Rod Barajas experiment, the Pirates continued to acquire the pieces for their journey to respectability.  The piece of the puzzle that could be the most important to their journey was the acquisition of a staff ace from the Yankees.  A.J. Burnett was acquired in one of Huntington’s best moves in his time with the Pirates.  That move probably could be considered the one that pushed them from afterthought to serious threat.  He brought an attitude with him and he also brought a staff ace that the Pirates needed to go with the talent that they were accumulating.  As mentioned, it was the year of Rod Barajas.  Unfortunately, that was not one of Huntington’s best moves.  Barajas was horrible offensively and defensively and the Pirates opponents were regularly given a free pass to second.  But the Pirates still put up a good fight in the first half.  Once again, the pitching wore out and the movie title for this season became Collapse 2, the sequel. 

In 2013, the Pirates learned from their 2^nd half pitching struggles and accumulated starting pitching depth to help them through the second half of the season Gerrit Cole made an appearance, Starling Marte began his Pirates tenure, Jordy Mercer staked his claim at short and Pedro Alvarez had what many thought would be the beginning of his run at 3^rd base.  Another move made by the Pirates was to ditch the Barajas experiment.  That was a given, but what was not a given was who they would find to replace him.   Fortunately this was the beginning of the Yankees to Pirates catcher connection.  Since the Pirates recent attempts to rebuild, they have tried to collect the Yankees excess players, knowing how the Yankees build their team through free agency, it seems that the Pirates figured that some of those players that were discarded because of incoming free agents might not be too bad.  So, they collected the Yanks extras hoping that they would find some lightning in a bottle, a diamond in the rough, a hidden gem and on and on.  This was the first time the Pirates had found a catcher among the Yankees players.  Before the Yankees knew what hit them, the Pirates signed Martin up for 2 years.   Martin had worked with Burnett as a Yankee and in 2013 he worked the Pirates staff to perfection.  He also stopped giving those free passes to second that Barajas was handing out like candy on Halloween.  On September 9, the Pirates won their 82^nd game and ended The Streak.  That wasn’t the end though.  The Pirates finished in 2^nd place in the Central and thanks to an amazing crowd and the talent accumulated on the team, chants of Cueto, Cueto, Cueto messed with Johnny and The Pirates not only ended the streak, but they won their first playoff game in a looonnnnnggg time and it was in front of the fans that had waited so long to see another winning baseball club in Pittsburgh.  One step closer to the ultimate goal but still far away.

Last year could be looked at as a step backward, but the foundation was solidifying like cement.  After his solid season 2 years ago, Jordy Mercer took over shortstop.  Pedro Alvarez had his issues at third, but Jahay took over after playing all over the field and nearly coming away with a batting crown.  The Pittsburgh kid had an outstanding season at 2^nd, other than a short stint on the dl.  Russell Martin again provided quality at the catcher position and pop with his bat.  The third cog in the outfield of the future came up from Indy and after a strong start tailed off.  But we’ve seen what he could do in the minors and look for more of the same in Pittsburgh.  The bullpen was not effective as it was the year before, but Mark Melancon was strong as the closer and Tony Watson took over as his set up man and was mostly unhittable in that spot.  It was a 2^nd straight winning season and a trip to the playoffs to face the Giants.  Unfortunately, they faced Madison Bumgarner and his unhittable pitching show that ultimately went on to single handedly win the World Series.  Well, he and Travis Ishikawa probably get equal credit. 

That 4 year journey brings us to this year.  After long last the Pirates have what I think is a first baseman that can provide some offense.  No, Gaby Sanchez is gone.  I know his long drives to second base will be sorely missed, but there’s a new first baseman in town and his name is Andrew Lambo.  Just kidding, his name is Pedro Alvarez.  I’m confident that Pedro will rebound from last year and without the crossfield throw to worry about, will have a great year at first and at the plate.  I think we will see his home run numbers get back to where he left off 2 years ago. 

Second base is secure with The Pittsburgh Kid, Jordy has shortstop, and Jahay will try to duplicate what I considered MVP caliber play.  The outfield is the best in baseball and will be for a while.  Polanco has added muscle and will continue to grow, physically and with the knowledge of right field and his teammates.  Andrew McCutchen will patrol center field and track down everything from Marte to Polanco.  There shouldn’t be much dropping in with their combined ranges.

The pitching staff has Liriano, Cole, Morton, Worley, Locke and Mr. Burnett returns for his curtain call.  They lost some depth when Brandon Cumpton had to have Tommy John surgery, but there are a few guys on the horizon that are the future of the Pirates.  Jameson Taillon and Tyler Glasnow look to join the staff very shortly.  They may not be ready until the second half because Taillon had TJ surgery himself and is working his way back.  Glasnow is still getting innings in and working through his minor league check list, but if needed he may be the first call up.    The Pirates also signed former Padre, Clayton Richard.  He is a reclamation project that Ray Searage is working with to get back to the form that made him a 14-14 starter in 2012.  The Pirates also stocked up the bullpen with hard throwers for this year’s run.  The Yankees provided the Buccos with what they hope will be another starting catcher in Francisco Cervelli.  But, he has had his problems staying healthy.  Chris Stewart, the other Yankee contribution was to be Cervelli’s backup and may still do that, but he’ll start off the year on the DL, due to hamstring issues.  So, the forgotten man Tony Sanchez will back up Cervelli.  Sanchez’s stock is more unpredictable than stock market itself.  Currently, it’s on the rise after a strong spring.  If he can’t do it there’s another man waiting in the wings.  Elias Diaz stock is also on the rise, but he needs further seasoning in Indy before he’s ready.

Basically, what I’m saying here is that this is the year.  The Buccos have got their feet wet for 2 years, breaking the streak, learning to win, and experiencing the playoffs. Now it is time to claim what is rightfully theirs, the World Series trophy.  Sure there are some question marks, but they are not nearly as big as they have been the last 2 years.  Francisco Cervelli will try to prove he can stay healthy and play nearly as good as Russell Martin.  The 5 guys lined up to start, need to pitch well enough and stay healthy enough to make it through most of the season.  Pedro needs to return to his offensive form of 2 years ago?  Jahay needs to play as well as he did last year?  Polanco needs to emerge offensively?  These are the question marks that surround this team and it’s run for a title.   If the answers are that those guys play average and stay healthy the Pirates will be in the World Series and if they excel and those guys play above average and stay healthy those 20 seasons will be a distant memory and 2015 will be the year of the Pirates.