Pittsburgh Pirates – An overview
The Pittsburgh Pirates were leading the National League Central division at one stage before the All-Star break but a sudden dip in form after the midseason classic has seen them slip to fourth place in their division. The Pirates are likely to finish the
season at fourth because the bottom two teams, Chicago Cubs and the Houston Astros have also failed to impress and are way below the Pirates as far as games are concerned.
Pirates have a decent 61-68 record for the season but this has not been enough for them to secure a postseason spot this season. However, they have been proactive in their approach and have skilfully used this time to prepare a better roster for the next
season.
Pittsburgh has a strong farm structure and has already inducted young blood to their roster to give them a feeler baseball in the Majors. They were also pretty active on the midseason trade deadline and made some crucial transfers which would be beneficial
for them in their next campaign. Ensured that postseason is not a possibility this year, the Pirates would not regret wasting this time for a menial finish.
One thing which the Pirates must improve on is their performance in home fixtures. The Pirates have played 68 games at home and have prevailed in just 31 encounters, a percentage which is not exactly what teams in MLB want. As a short-term goal, the Pirates
would want to push this percentage up to .500 and then to take it from there. They still have a fair chance of toppling the Cincinnati Reds to finish third in the division and regain some lost glory.
The Pirates are almost 2.5 games behind the Reds and a positive streak in this situation would be enough to take their spot. However, this should not be their aim this season and they should continue to develop a winning strategy for the next season.
Batting has been a disappointing department for the Pirates and their 25th-rank out of a total of 30 teams is worthy evidence. Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker have been the standout performers for the Pirates from the plate but their statistics
are no match to league standards.
Walker’s batting average of .279 is supposedly the best in the team’s line-up but in comparison to the Majors, he might not be in the top 30 batters. The second baseman needs to get his act right before the next season when an improved performance is due
from his team.
McCutchen, on the contrary, continues to be the spine of the batting line-up. He has produced 75 RBIs and has completed bases 71 times this season. He would be an important part of the line-up when the team takes field in the next season and he would have
added responsibility of being the senior player in the team where new talent is expected to be unleashed in 2012.
The Pirates have leaked 46 more runs than they have scored and this is where they lost their advantage. Their bull-pen has not been effective apart from a few moments of brilliance from Kevin Correia and Joel Hanrahan.
Correia has bagged 12 wins this season while Hanrahan has saved 32 games for the Pirates this season. Both pitchers would aim at further inflating their numbers next season.
Note: Statistics in this feature are as on August 24, 2011.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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