How the Pirates have Stirred Away from the NL Central Crown

(Editor’s Note: Here at Hindsight Sports, we encourage and promote intrest in sports and writing, regardless of standpoint or expierience. With that in mind, I wanted to give my friend, Dillon Bluemling, one of biggest Pirates fans that I know, a chance to voice his opinions about his favorite team. This is a post that he wrote for me covering his explanations for the Pirates post All Star Break slump.)

Stunned, I reclined the chair ever so slightly, pondering the controversial call at the plate. It was 2 AM on a weekday morning. Soon after the blown call, I was reminded of another home plate play before my time. 6500 days ago last Thursday, Sid Bream crossed home plate to clinch the 1992 NLCS in walk-off fashion, sealing the Pirates fate that season and seemingly setting them back for the next two decades. You can count it in hours, minutes, or seconds; whatever way you look at it, the Pittsburgh Pirates have not had a winning season since their ninety-six win campaign in ’92. The pain amidst the worst losing streak in North American sports history has become immeasurable. Since the Game 7 loss in 1992 to a losing streak-worst 105 losses in 2010, Pittsburghers have for a long time pretended that their town was not home to a once-storied franchise.

In response to their startling success this season, Pirates fans have shown up to PNC Park in record numbers to support this young, promising team. However, these same fans can’t fathom another losing-season after being in first place just a mere fourteen days ago, a proposition that, with a dismal 7-16 record after the All Star Break, is slowly becoming a reality. During this stretch, increased anxiety and impatience with the Pirates has become palpable. Radio show hosts and fans on Facebook, Twitter, and bar stools have shared their usually pessimistic views on why this feel good story has run amok; I only offer these reasons for the recent struggles. (Remember these are not excuses, yet explanations)

1) Schedule: Not to say the Buccos were beating up on mediocre teams for much of the first half of the season, but the post-All Star Break schedule has featured elite teams such as the Braves and Phillies (combined 139-88 through Saturday) in a week’s stretch including a season-changing nineteen-inning affair in Atlanta (more on that). It is also important to remember the top-notch pitching (Hudson, Hanson, Jurrjens, Lowe, Halladay, Lee, and Worley) that the Pirates have been up against. The Pirates 2-5 record during that week would have been considered a victory if they had not lost their extra-inning game on Sunday against the Phillies.

2) Fatigue: The Pirates are in the middle of stretch including 20 consecutive games, a stretch that began on Friday July 22, and won’t conclude until their game against the Giants on Wednesday. The stretch has included three extra-inning losses, one of which being the nineteen-inning thriller in Atlanta. Emotional losses, especially when mixed with the day-to-day grind, can often be detrimental to a young ball club’s outlook and attitude, and that looks to be the case lately with the Buccos.

Fatigue has worn down Clint Hurdle’s young club, not just physically but mentally as well.

Fatigue has not only played a factor in the Pirates upbeat outlook, but its depth and stamina. During the aforementioned seven hour battle in Atlanta, the bullpen was forced to pitch 13 innings, which rendered a few of those pitchers useless for the rest of the week. You may say, “Yeah, but the Braves faced the same dilemma.” However, it is important to remember that the Braves are not as dependent upon their pitching and were able to rely on their formidable offense to compensate for their fatigued bullpen.

3) Starting Pitching: During the first half of the season, the starting rotation was surprisingly the strength of the club. However, they are now experiencing the decline that many of us saw coming, a decline caused by them taking on a workload that they have never experienced before. Consider the numbers below:

Jeff Karstens: 2009: 108 innings 2010: 122 innings 2011: 130 innings

James McDonald: 2009: 63 innings 2010: 71.2 innings 2011: 121.1 innings

Charlie Morton: 2009: 97 innings 2010: 79.2 2011: 126.1 innings

Over half of the starting staff has already reached their career-high in workload with 2 months left in the season. Look for these three to decline as the year progresses as try to acclimate themselves to a full-time workload.

Maholm will likely be the only pitcher that keeps on pace with his career stats and keep up his commendable year going. Conversly, Kevin Correia’s pitching arsenal is not as equipped and thus he will hobble down the stretch (As I have been explaining all year). (This could actually be a blessing in disguise because we won’t be as tempted to recreate a Matt Morris scenario, giving him a big contract i.e. 2 years, $11 million)

3) Players Returning: Following the All-Star Break, players began to return from injuries, making Pittsburghers ecstatic of the thought of, with Pedro Alvarez, Steve Pearce, Ronny Cedeno, and Ryan Doumit in the lineup, the Pirates doing even more damage and climbing even higher in NL Central. Think again. Pedro continues to slump and Steve Pearce has only two hits in 29 at-bats since returning. These players returns meant the days of minor-league replacements such as Chase d’Arnaud, Josh Harrison, and Alex Presley (injured), who were putting up admirable numbers (Presley had a .333 avg. in 20 games, Harrison had .263 average in 30 games, and d’Arnaud a .225 average in 25 games.) were done.

All of these replacements complimented the Pirates well with outstanding speed (combined 13 stolen bases). Don’t forget Michael “The Fort” McKenry, who was added in a trade with Boston following Snyder’s injury, has put up numbers that are way beyond anyone’s expectations and has managed a younger pitching staff with veteran composure. Not to mention, since Doumit returning late last week, the pitching staff has given up 29 runs in the three games he’s started behind the dish. These young players, who got their first taste of the big leagues, brought an energy that veterans have failed to match.

In recent years the Pirates organization has advertised the squad as a “New Pirates Generation” which could be less believable than the O.J. or Casey Anthony verdict. This year, what we were promised years ago finally came true. Pittsburghers consequently filled up PNC Park with an updated wardrobe, perhaps signaling that they have caught the attention of younger generation of Pirates fans. Fans can at last wear their Andrew McCutchen facial hair tee, or Neil Walker jersey with no shame. In conclusion, regardless of how long this losing streak may last, we can, in a worst case scenario, support a squad that only won 57 games last year. Personally, sitting here while writing a column about the Pirates’ status as contenders in early August, is enough to make me grin from ear to ear. They may not end up competing for a division title after their recent skid but rather, for a winning season. For me, only words that come to mind are; finally, yeah, finally.