MLB Team Outlook: Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates have improved from their lethargic start to this season and have picked pace as the season enters the second half. The Pirates have returned from the All-Star break with extreme dynamism.
The Pirates have won four of their previous five encounters and are currently riding a three-game winning streak. They have registered two series wins already after the break; a 2-1 win against the Houston Astros and a 2-0 unassailable lead against the Cincinnati
Reds with the third game scheduled for Wednesday, July 20.
The Pirates will now aim to go all-out and register a clean sweep against the Reds to get some winning momentum and increase their lead over the second placed team in their division, the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers are just half a game behind the even-tempered
Pirates.
Pittsburgh does not have any “star” names in their roster but the teamwork has been immense and enough for them to top the National League Central Division. Thus far, the Pirates have bagged 51 wins out of the 95 games they have played, account for the .537
winning percentage they currently sport.
The team has been equally efficient in games played at home and on the road. They have a home record of 25-22 and have gone one better on the road games with a win-loss record of 26-22. They have won 70 percent of their previous ten games and maintaining
this percentage would be enough to see the Pirates through to the playoffs.
Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker have been the leading batters for the Pirates. Although not big names, they are not behind the big teams as far as their statistics are concerned. McCutchen has scored 54 runs and is just four hits away from completing 100
hits this season. He has the leading batting average among his team-mates at .277 and is slugging at a decent percentage of .486.
Neil Walker is now just one run short of completing 50 runs in 2011. He leads the list for the number of hits among his team-mates with just three more to go before he completes a century of hits. His quality, however, has been producing RBIs and he has
done that efficiently till now. With 62 RBIs, Walker is placed at number seven on the list of most RBIs in the National League.
The Pirates’ pitching’ staff has been supportive as well. Kevin Correia and Joel Hanrahan have been more than impressive at the mound. Even though the pitchers have not struck-out many batters, they have been consistently precise and that has been an ingredient
of their success.
Correia has a win-loss record of 11-7. He has an ordinary ERA of 4.04 and this has been a major reason why the Pirates have not been able to control the flow of runs. He has just managed 63 strike-outs and he will be looking to improve this number if the
Pirates aim at attaining a position among the League leaders.
Joel Hanrahan has been a top-quality reliever and is an automatic choice in any world class team. In 43 games this season, Hanrahan has collected 28 saves at an astonishing ERA of 1.24. His form and fitness is vital as the season progresses.
To improve their strength in pitching, the Pirates have agreed to terms with right-handed pitchers Colten Brewer and Jason Creasy. The Pirates will hope that these additions will add substance and variety to their pitching’ staff and help in improving results.
Left-handed pitcher Joe Beimel has been activated from the disabled list and it will be interesting to see how these three contribute in taking the Pirates to the next level.
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