Pittsburgh Pirates envision a bright future
The Pittsburgh Pirates chairman Bob Nutting has his eyes set on the upcoming season; building a team that gets to grip with every challenge coming its way. The Pirates ended Major League Baseball season with 79 wins; improving their record from the 70 that
they had in 2011.
The improvement might not be a substantial and marked one, but there were several highlights this year that vouched for the Pittsburgh Pirates’ progress. With incredibly tough rivals in the National League Central, the Pirates proved their resilience and
competitiveness by turning the tide on several occasions.
"We should not be, will not be, have not been a paramilitary organization," Nutting said. "We should be focusing on baseball drills. I believe that 90 percent of the time, effort, energy that we have put into our development system has been focused on baseball
appropriately.
He wants his players to focus on winning championships with finding the right balance. Baseball development, of all, has to be in kept in the mind as the chairman puts it. For him, team building training and additional drills will be ultimately rewarding
for the Pirates
Since stats matter, there were a few things that the Pirates chairman took a while to reconcile with. For instance, the Pirates were 63-47 in August, but by the time the race for postseason drew closer, the team remained 1 1/2 games behind, unable to book
a spot in the playoffs.
Ironically, it came at a time when the team in the first half seemed all prepared to make headway, and may possibly win the NL Central title. With the tremendously strong combination of defence and offence at their disposal, they – however, witnessed slump
in the second half.
While he admits himself that it took him a while to cool off before addressing a lot of issues after the team’s ouster from the postseason race, he wants to move beyond that.
"If we can find the appropriate balance, where we have the safety of our players utmost in mind, that we have the baseball development utmost in mind, we can supplement that baseball focus with additional drills for team-building training."
Few Pirates fans may actually feel quite stung by the finish this season. It was a tough finish for them after how they had actually started the season. Manager Clint Hurdle had candidly admitted that he was not happy with the finish.
That they did not have playoff opportunity will continue to reverberate for a while. At a time when they had come close to make it there for the first in almost two decades, the end result was disappointing.
But there are aspects of the game that will be reassuring for the team. Pitching continues to evolve and hitting has seen its best this year with the likes of Andrew McCutchen bringing glory for the team.
Neil Walker, Pedro Alvarez and Garret Jones will be the source of inspiration for the team in the years to come. While future holds challenges for them, the Pirates are ready to embrace those challenges and make their mark.
Therefore, it goes without saying, Pirates chairman Bob Nutting is not off the mark when he envisions a bright future ahead for the club; confronting the opponents with ever more resilience.
Disclaimer: Views expressed here are the writer’s own and in no way represent bettor.com’s official editorial policy
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