Today is a very sad day in the land of the Burg. It's now October and the battlin buccos should be preparing for the postseason, but yet they are not. Following the worst half of baseball that I have ever seen in my life. The Pirates have now had 20 straight losing seasons. That sets an MLB record, a record no team what's to hold. Unforchantaly the Buccos own that record.
The Pirates fell apart right after the trade deadline. There was no stopping it, the management had made its decision. They should have kept the team as it was when they were winning, instead of trying to bring a new comer in. Pedro Alvarez said it the best, "we should have kept all of us together, and not try and make some big move."
If you look back on when the Bucs were winning, you'll notice that they were just out there to have fun and play baseball. Between throwing up the Zoltan Z after every hit, and the pitchers having more enthusiasm after every pitch, that was when the Pirates were winning games. Then the pressure got to them after the All Star break and they fell apart.
Do I think Wandy Rodriguez was a bad pick up, no, but I don't believe he was a good fit in the Pirates pitching rotation. When manager Clint Hurdle moved around the starting rotation is when he got into pitcher James McDonald's head and his "stuff" wasn't there anymore. He was in the heads of his players. Hurdle shouldn't have picked up a pitcher, but rather pick up a position player to help out the hitting. The Pirates weren't losing games by much, in the first half of the season, just by 1 or 2 runs. If they would have brought in a big bat to help out, I think I'd be talking about how far the Bucs are going to go into the playoffs, rather than them missing it yet again and having an under .500 season.
The last thing the bugs me about the Pirates season was the fans chanting "MVP!! MVP!!! MVP!!!" every time McCutchen got up to bat. Do I think he had a chance at it, in the first half of the season, yes. Do I think he carried that team at that time, yes. Do I think if they had a first half MVP as well as a second half MVP that he would have won it, yes. But that does not mean that he is going to get it. Yes I know he was batting in the 400's and his slugging and on base percentage were outrageous, but by no means was he in MVP forum.
All in all the Pirates had a good season, and have a lot of room for improvement. I've said this countless times but if they can find and put a team together that works, and that is winning an having fun, they will be a nice team and can make a good run for October and the postseason.
Until next time,
You keep doing what you do, and I'll keep you up to date with everything sports.
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