Pittsburgh Pirates: Is This the Hat Trick or Will the Third Time be the Charm?

For the third year in a row, the Pittsburgh Pirates find themselves in the part of a midseason playoff race. In the past two seasons, the Pirates failed to get out of August alive, extending their almost eternal postseason drought. With a 51-30 record good enough for first place in the highly competitive National League Central, will 2013 be the hat trick for Pittsburgh or is the third time the charm?

It is a mystery how Pittsburgh has climbed to the best record in baseball considering they do not have a hitter batting over .300 and only two qualifying players are batting over .260. As a team, the Pirates have the 6^th worst batting average at .241. Unsurprisingly, Andrew McCutchen is the team’s leading hitter at .292 while young left fielder Starling Marte is batting .288.

Other than McCutchen and Marte, the Pittsburgh lineup has produced mediocrely at best, aside from third baseman Pedro Alvarez’s power. Alvarez has already clubbed 20 homeruns this season, however the rest of the team has combined for just 62.

Alvarez is also leading the team in RBIs with 53, but only three other players have more than 30, McCutchen with 42, first baseman Garrett Jones with 32, and catcher Russell Martin with 30. The Pirates have also struck out a fifth worst 685 times.

In the field, the Pirates have committed 56 errors as a team, tied with the miserable Chicago White Sox for seventh most in the MLB.

With a subpar lineup and a dismal defense, how does this team have the best record in baseball?

Pitching.

The Pirates pitching staff has the best ERA in the league at 3.11 and the second best WHIP with 1.20. Pittsburgh is also top ten in the league for strikeouts (636), walks (270), opponent’s batting average (.225), and homeruns allowed (64).

The Pirates have succeeded in bringing in thought to be washed out pitchers that have turned their careers around in the Steel City such as A.J. Burnett, Francisco Liriano, Jason Grilli, and Wandy Rodriguez. Pittsburgh has also been able to find young talented arms like Mark Melancon, Jeff Locke, and Bryan Morris.

Locke and Liriano have led the Pirates rotation, each with sevens wins. Both pitchers have ERAs under 2.30 and WHIPs below 1.30. Opposing batters have a microscopic average of .199 against Locke this season. Rodriguez also appears to have revitalized himself this season with a 6-4 record and 3.59 ERA.

In the bullpen, the Pirates have been phenomenal, most notably Jason Grilli’s National League leading 27 saves in 28 chances. Morris, the young right-hander, has held opposing hitters to a .162 batting average in 23 appearances, while Melancon has a major league best 23 holds and a 0.89 ERA in 41 appearances this season.

The Pirates may have one of the best pitching staffs in the game right now, along with one of the best bullpens ever, but the lack of offensive and defensive support will hurt the Bucos’ playoff hopes. Pittsburgh’s luck will soon run out and they will not be able to win purely from pitching.

The Pirates are in desperate need of a big trade deadline acquisition to complete themselves, both offensively and defensively. If this problem is not addressed the Pirates will lose numerous 1-0 and 2-1 games. Even if the pitching and luck holds up, Pittsburgh is not in an opportunity to vie for a World Series, as they will not be able to beat more complete teams like the Braves, Cardinals, and Reds in a seven game series.

Pittsburgh has the pitching to win but their offense and defense is holding them down, at the exact halfway mark of the season it looks like the annual collapse is quite possible and close.