Pirates magical campaign: Part two

--Unlike 1992, when I practically needed a therapist to get me through the Pirates' Game 7 loss in the NLCS, I was over Pittsburgh's loss in the NLDS fairly quickly. I mean, I was disappointed for a night (when you spend a whole day "knowing" your team is going to win, it's a little hard to deal with when it doesn't happen), but, like a lot of Pirates fans who walked through the desert of losing baseball for two decades , it was hard to feel too disappointed. What the team gave its faithful this year was something that, quite honestly, I never thought I'd see again. And that's not hyperbole, it's a fact. I've been talking about the disparity between large and small market baseball teams for a reason, and that's because it's a big deal. It was a big enough deal that, if it hadn't been for the front office sticking to a true rebuilding plan and doing so aggressively, we may have never had a Game 5 loss to be sad about. Much kudos goes to majority owner Bob Nutting, team president Frank Coonelly and general manager Neal Huntington for the work they did over the past six seasons and the slings and arrows they had to put up with from the fans and media. I'm not saying a lot of those slings and arrows weren't justified (many were), but whatever wrongs there were in previous seasons, they were mostly righted once the current regime took over. It would have been easy to deviate from the plan in the face of public outrage, but there was never going to be a true championship-level baseball team in Pittsburgh again unless a true small market plan was adhered to. That's exactly what happened, and now the Pirates have an organization, from top to bottom, that's on the rise and probably won't be enduring much public outrage anytime soon.

--If the postseason taught me anything it's the importance of winning a division. Prior to 2012, when there was only one wild card team per league, if a team had a fairly sizable lead in the WC standings coming down the stretch, that team's manager could organize his pitching staff and have it aligned just the way he wanted it for the LDS. But after an extra team was added to the wild card mix in each league, which created a one game playoff, that changed the strategy substantially. Instead of one wild card team having its ace ready for Game 1 of an LDS, two wild card combatants were now forced to use their aces in the "single elimination game"--and rightfully so. If you don't win the wild card game, it won't matter how your pitching staff is aligned. Because the Cardinals won the National League Central over Pittsburgh, they had time to set their starting rotation for the NLDS, meaning ace Adam Wainwright got the nod in Game 1 and Game 5, while Pittsburgh was forced to use ace Francisco Liriano in the Wild Card round, which meant he was only available for Game 3 of the NLDS. Wainwright was masterful in Game 1, shutting the Pirates down in a 9-1 victory. Six days later, with the series tied at two games a piece, Pittsburgh was forced to choose between A.J. Burnett, an outstanding veteran pitcher but with terrible numbers at Busch Stadium, and rookie Gerrit Cole who was awesome down the stretch--including in the Pirates 7-1 victory in Game 2--but only had four months of major league experience. Cole got the nod and did a decent enough job in Game 5, only yielding three runs in five innings, but Wainwright is an ace for a reason, and he shut the Pirates hitters down, again, in a 6-1 complete came series clinching victory. Had Pittsburgh been able to outlast the Cardinals for the division title, the reverse would have happened and Wainwright would have been forced to pitch the Wild Card game, while Liriano would have pitched Games 1 and 5. Lance Lynn, who the Pirates had great success against in the regular season, only had to pitch one game of the NLDS, and it was the only game in which the Pirates batters had great success. Had Lynn been forced to pitch two games, the outcome could have been different. While it sucked for the Pirates purposes, kudos to MLB for strengthening the importance of winning a division.

--"Can the Pirates win again next season?" has been asked countless times since Wednesday. While it's certainly impossible to predict, I see no reason why they can't win again. Will they make the playoffs? Obviously, that's also impossible to predict. I do know one thing, though, Pittsburgh has a legitimate core group of guys on the roster. Like the Penguins in the NHL, the key for continued success is a core group of players. Heading into 2014, the Pirates will have Andrew McCutchen, the current favorite for NL MVP, Pedro Alvarez, the NL co-leader in home runs with 36, who added another three during the playoffs, Starling Marte, coming off his first full major league season, second baseman Neil Walker, catcher Russell Martin, and a pitching staff that will be deep and talented, regardless of what happens with the free agent Burnett. Like the Penguins have done each offseason since becoming true contenders, the Pirates face the prospects of losing several key role players this season, especially veteran right fielder Marlon Byrd, who they acquired in late August. But Pittsburgh still had a successful team prior to Byrd's arrival, and to me, that's why I'm so optimistic for the future. There will always be the Marlon Byrds of the world available at the trade deadline. The key for a gm is to find the right ones and pay the right price. Huntington did that with Byrd, and man was he exceptional. However, without that key core group of players, Byrd wouldn't have been nearly as valuable because he would have been a 36 year old outfielder on a team going nowhere. Right now, the prospects of Pittsburgh winning 94 games again seems rather daunting, but if the players are in place, 94 wins is more than possible, because that's what good baseball teams do.

--I was predicting all summer that the Pirates would kind of bring history back around again and duplicate what the Penguins did in 2008 by losing to a Detroit team in the championship round. Five years ago, the Penguins lost the Stanley Cup Finals to the Red Wings in six games, and I was hoping the Pirates would at least make it as far as the World Series this year before losing to the Tigers. Turns out I was still kind of right. The Red Wings were the class of the NHL back in 2008, winners of the Stanley Cup in '97, '98 and '02 and showed Pittsburgh's young hockey team what championship success looked like, by winning the Cup again at the old Civic Arena. The Cardinals have been the gold standard in the majors for many years, capturing eight division titles since 2000, appearing in three World Series since '04 and winning two since '06. The Pirates might have had St. Louis on the ropes after Game 3, but the Cardinals simply never blinked, and instead of wilting in the face of adversity, they shut Pittsburgh down over the final two games to advance to the NLCS. It's rare for a young team like the Pirates that isn't used to playing in the postseason to have a very successful run in its first year. The young and inexperienced Buccos may have been taught a valuable lesson by a St. Louis team that knows what it takes to win on baseball's biggest stage. It's a lesson that could pay dividends sooner rather than later--the '09 Pens came back and won the Stanley Cup by defeating Detroit in seven games.

--After Wednesday night's 6-1 loss in St. Louis, the Pirates have now scored a total of four runs in their last five games in which they had a chance to clinch a series, dating back to Game 6 of the 1991 NLCS--pretty interesting.

--Along those same lines, the Pirates' main weakness during the regular season was an offense that struggled with scoring runs and driving in runs with men in scoring position, and in the postseason, that caught up with them. Regardless of the sport, once the postseason rolls around, a team's weaknesses during the regular season will probably be exposed. I remember how awesome the 2001 Steelers were, as they rolled to a 13-3 regular season record and had the number one seed in the playoffs. But perhaps lost in the euphoria of such a great season was the team's deficiencies in special teams where Pittsburgh's unit gave up several kickoff and punt returns for touchdowns. Sure enough, in the divisional round against Baltimore, the Steelers gave up a punt return for a touchdown that made the game closer than it should have been. And then in the AFC Championship Game, the Patriots scored three touchdowns, but two of them were on special teams plays--a punt return for a TD and a blocked field goal that was returned for a TD--and this proved to be the difference in a 24-17 loss.......I don't necessarily think the Pirates are a horrible hitting team. I just think their preparation and approach to hitting can be improved. During the course of the latter part of the season, after Byrd and first baseman Justin Morneau were acquired for the stretch run, coaches and media types would go on and on about the two veterans and their "professional" approach to hitting. Maybe a more professional approach is what the Pirates young hitters need to take that next step--let's hope they learned a thing or two from the  two veteran rent-a-players, if their time in Pittsburgh was as brief as I suspect it might be.

--I can't tell you how excited I am about the young pitcher Cole, who was drafted number one overall in the 2011 baseball draft. Cole was fairly consistent all year long, once being called up in June, but down the stretch, after a bit of a tweak with his delivery, he was simply dominant. For as hard as he throws, many wondered why he didn't get that many strikeouts, but whatever change that was made to his delivery in early September (I'm no pitching coach) made all the difference, as Cole's K's picked up greatly. When Cole got the nod for Game 5, I didn't bat an eye because I think the kid is the real deal, and he might be something the Pirates haven't had in my lifetime, and maybe ever, an ace. And I'm not talking about an ace of the staff (every team has an "ace"), I'm talking about an ace of baseball, on par with a Steve Carlton, Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens, Dwight Gooden, Randy Johnson, Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, etc., etc. If you ask any Pirates expert who the greatest pitchers are in team history, they'll rattle off a list, but most of the players on the list would be from between WWI and WWII. Over the past 40 years, other than Steve Blass, Doug Drabek and John Smiley, it's hard to find a Pirates starting pitcher that was even all-star caliber. Cole, with his 100 mph fastball, has a chance to be something special, and the kind of pitcher fans will actually come out to see.

That's all I have for now. The Pirates magical run was so awesome, I'm sure I'll be writing much more about it in the near future.

Let's Go Bucs!

Pirates lose Game 4 of NLDS, off to St. Louis for epic Game 5 on Wednesday

I'm always preaching about the awesomeness of the NFL playoffs and how a game is such an emotional roller coaster because of the lack of "tomorrows."

Today, on Monday, October 7, 2013, I'm glad there will be an October 9, because the Pirates will still be playing baseball, despite a 2-1 to St. Louis in Game 4 of the NLDS at PNC Park.

Like most Pittsburgh fans, I just assumed business would be taken care of in front of the home folks, but the Cardinals are not the Cardinals for nothing, and they usually have something up  their sleeve, elimination game or no elimination game.

That something was rookie pitching sensation Michael Wacha, who pitched 7 1/3 hitless innings before yielding a one out home run to Pedro Alvarez in the bottom of the eighth inning to pull the Pirates to within a run, at 2-1.

Unfortunately for Pittsburgh, Josh Harrison was caught stealing later in the inning on a hit and run. And in the bottom of the ninth inning, after Neil Walker drew a two-out walk, Andrew McCutchen popped out to end the game and send the series back to Busch Stadium on Wednesday.

I'm obviously very disappointed in Monday's results, and I know a lot of people are already chalking up a win for the Cardinals, but I have a feeling Wednesday will be a special day for Bucco Nation.

You see, manager Clint Hurdle named rookie phenom Gerrit Cole as the Game 5 starter. It was a gutsy move by Hurdle, because if Cole struggles, and the Pirates lose, he'll be second-guessed by people who will say he should have gone with the veteran A.J. Burnett.

But like I said, it is a gutsy move, and maybe it's just the eternal optimist in me, but my gut tells me Cole will show the baseball world just what kind of phenom he truly is.

As for the Cardinals starter, they'll be trotting out Adam Wainwright, their ace and the man who shut down Pittsburgh in Game 1. However, no man is perfect, and I have the feeling that Wainwright's curve ball won't be curving as much as it did last Thursday, and the Pirates are going to get them some.

Not only am I predicting a Pirates victory, I'm predicting an easy win.

Regardless of what happens, though, I  think it's important to remember just how magical this season has already been. I hate to be like one of "those" fans that I always argue with online, but there was no sin in how the Pirates lost Game 4.

The Cardinals are tough, and like most great teams, they know how to win when their backs are against the wall. If Pittsburgh falls on Wednesday, hey, it wouldn't be the first team to lose to the Cardinals.

World Series or not, I honestly think this is just the beginning for these Pirates. They don't look like a team that's going to struggle for respectability in the ensuing seasons. If I had to make a wager, I'd say they have a really good chance of being the Tampa Rays of the National League and competing for many more years to come.

Big picture, I remember the days when anticipating a Game 5 was nothing more than a fantasy. Now, it's a reality. And in terms of the emotions I felt while watching Game 3, Sunday afternoon and into evening? It was by far the most fun I've ever had watching a Pirates game.

Nothing will take away how that game made me feel, and I just hope Wednesday is another great chapter in an already remarkable story.

Ah yes, there is still one more tomorrow for these Pirates, and I actually wish it was tomorrow and not Wednesday.

I shouldn't be pumped up, but I am.

Let's Go Bucs!

Pirates are 45-30 and even winning against American League teams

Pirates fans are currently wondering if their team is for real this season--after two straight late-season collapses, it's hard to blame even the most die-hard fan for being a little leery. While I can't say with any real certainty that this will be the year Pittsburgh finally clears the Clint Hurdle and has at least a winning season, there is some tangible evidence the Buccos are indeed for real in 2013.

For starters, the Pirates are 15 games over .500, and it's only June 23rd. A season ago, Pittsburgh didn't reach its high mark of 16 games above .500 until early August--shortly before its historic collapse.

Another reason these Buccos may actually do it this year is their depth, especially at pitching. Staff ace A.J. Burnett has been on the disabled list with a calf injury, and the number two starter, the very efficient Wandy Rodriguez, has also missed a few starts due to injury. The past two seasons, when the club was dealing with similar injury issues, this would have probably sent things into an irreversible tailspin. However, Jeff Locke, one of the pieces in the controversial Nate McLouth trade from a few years ago, has been as solid a starting pitcher as any in baseball and leads the National League with a 2.01 ERA.

The other pitching prospect to come from Atlanta in the McLouth trade, Charlie Morton, has made two starts since coming back from Tommy John surgery and has been more than respectable, going 1-1--including a huge effort last Tuesday in Cincinnati, where he not only pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings in a 4-0 win over the Reds, he plunked Shin Soo Choo with the first pitch of the game after Cincinnati pitchers had taken liberties with Pirates hitters the night before.

And what about Francisco Liriano? Since making his season debut in May after recovering from a broken hand, he's 6-3 with a 2.30 ERA and 61 strikeouts in nine starts. Liriano would probably be this year's Burnett if he had the same presence. However, if he can just continue to pitch at his same efficient level, I"m sure the folks in Pittsburgh's clubhouse would be satisfied with that.

And what more can you say about the young phenom, Gerrit Cole? Cole made his third start in Anaheim Friday night since making his MLB debut two weeks ago and won his third game, going 6 1/3 innings in a 5-2 victory over the Angels.

There's talk that Cole will be sent down to avoid "Super two" arbitration status, and I'm sure that would outrage a lot of fans, but really, what other choice is there? Once Burnett and Rodriguez come back, what's Cole supposed to do? Sit in the bullpen? The Pirates aren't going to take Locke out of the lineup, same with Liriano. I suppose there is a possibility that Cole can stay in the rotation if Morton doesn't pan out, but even if Cole is sent down, I don't think the front office should suffer much in the way of poor publicity. Would it be financially motivated? Almost surely, but with the arms that gm Neal Huntington has cultivated over the years--don't forget Jeanmar Gomez and James Mcdonald, who have also been down with injuries--the team now has pitching options and the luxury to do whatever it desires with Cole.

In terms of offensive depth, the Pirates certainly seem to have that this year. Take the catcher spot, for instance, where they're light-years ahead of where they were a season ago, when Rod Barajas was the starter and Michael Mckenry was his back-up. While both certainly had their moments in 2012, neither was great offensively, particular Barajas, and both struggled mightily at throwing out baserunners. This year, with the signing of Russell Martin, Pittsburgh has something it hasn't had since the days of Jason Kendall--a true number one catcher. As for Mckenry, he's settled into his role as the back-up catcher a lot better now that he's not expected to carry more of the bulk of the load and has even contributed a couple of key hits--including two home runs in a comeback victory over the Reds in April.

At shortstop, Jordy Mercer has finally surpassed Clint Barmes. If Mercer's defense continues to be consistent, the obvious offensive upgrade could pay huge dividends moving forward.

At first base, Garrett Jones and Gaby Sanchez have quietly combined for 11 home runs and 52 RBI in a platoon situation.

At third base, Pedro Alvarez is slowly becoming one of the top power bats in the game and has paced the offensive attack with 18 home runs and 50 RBI despite his .234 batting average and habit for striking out.

At second base, Neil Walker continues to provide solid play, and if he can stay injury free this season, he has the look of someone who could come through in clutch situations down the stretch.

In the outfield, Andrew McCutchen might not be having the MVP-like year he had in 2012, but his numbers are still more than solid, and if he heats up like he did around last year's All-Star break, well, that would be just another reason this might be the year Pittsburgh finally reaches the Promised Land--even if that ground is just a winning record.

And if Starling Marte ever truly harnesses his raw talent (he's only 24), he could be every bit as good as McCutchen and would give the Pirates one of the more talented outfields in baseball.

And let's not forget the bullpen. The Shark Tank has been one of the best pens in baseball, behind closer Jason Grilli and set-up man Mark Melancon.

The bullpen has been so good, when I see that Pittsburgh is up by a run or two after six innings, I almost put the "W" in the win column.

I believe the talent is there for these Pirates. If they can stay healthy and continue to get key contributions from key players, they should, I say SHOULD have a very successful final three months to the 2013 season.

Heck, the Pirates have taken two in Anaheim so far in a weekend series against the Angels, an American League team. The Pirates are winning on the West Coast AND against an American League team? If that's not a watershed scenario, I don't know what is.

Pirates win, 6-3, on Sunday to take two of three from Dodgers in weekend series at PNC Park

What's the best way to answer a run of five losses in six games? By doing what any good team would do and bouncing back with six wins in the next nine games. The Pittsburgh Pirates looked a little over-matched a couple weeks ago, losing two of three against the powerful Cincinnati Reds at PNC Park and then following that up by getting swept in a three game series in Atlanta.

If Pirates fans were feeling a little uneasy, you couldn't really blame them. After 20 straight years of losing, and two consecutive seasons of late summer collapses, any fan would be a little gun-shy. But if Pittsburgh is going to collapse for a third straight season, it doesn't look like the slide has begun just yet.

Rookie pitcher Gerrit Cole had his second straight impressive outing to start his career, going 5 2/3 innings, as the Pirates defeated Los Angeles, 6-3, Sunday afternoon to take two of three in the weekend series.

Prior to the weekend series against the Dodgers, Pittsburgh (41-28) also took two of three from both the Cubs and Giants.

Cole, who pitched 6 1/3 innings against the Giants in his Major League debut Tuesday night at PNC, is now 2-0 so far in his very young career. The impressive outings by the 2011 first overall draft pick couldn't have come at a better time for a starting staff that recently placed veterans A.J. Burnett and Wandy Rodriguez on the 15 day disabled list.

Third baseman Pedro Alvarez delivered the decisive blow in the bottom of the fifth inning when he smacked a three-run home run over the centerfield wall to give the Pirates a 5-2 lead.