Pittsburgh Pirates July & First Half Statistics

The Pirates bats came alive in July and led the Pirates to a 6-4 record in their final 10 games before the all-star break. The team is sitting at 4 games over .500 and 1 game out of first place in the National League Central.

The Pirates hit .299 as a team in the 10 games they have played this month, and scored 5 runs per game. The starting rotation kept up the good work and posted a 3.79 ERA as a unit in these 10 games with the Nationals, Astros, and Cubs.

It's been a good start to the month of July after a very good month of June, and Pittsburgh is finally excited for its baseball team. Let's take a look at the first-half as a whole through the "Mc" Effect statistical eye.
The biggest number shown above is the starting rotation's ERA of 3.68. That number accompanies the runs allowed per game average of 2.7 and makes this staff probably the biggest surprise in baseball. We expected nothing anywhere close to these numbers, and it seems like the pitching staff alone has got this team competitive again.

The offense's numbers actually make them look better than they really were. The late surge of offense has brought the team batting average up to .248, while it was around .240 or lower most of the first half. They are scoring 3.9 runs per game, which is actually tied for the lowest in the division (with Houston). There are only 4 teams in the National League scoring less runs per game than the Pirates, the Nationals, Giants, Dodgers, and Padres.

On the flip side of that, the Pirates are allowing only 3.8 runs per game, which is the best in the division and 5th best in the league (the Phillies, Braves, Giants, and Padres are better). The Pirates are 20-12 in division games, but the majority of those games have come against Chicago and Houston. We will see how this team matches up to the better teams in the division pretty quickly after the all-star break. The Pirates are 23-22 at home and 24-21 on the road. There are only 3 NL teams with more road wins than the Pirates this year, the Braves, Mets, and Diamondbacks.

There are 4 offensive players with WARs (wins above replacement) of over 1: Garrett Jones (1.2), Neil Walker (1.7), Ronny Cedeno (1.9), and Andrew McCutchen (5.1). The Pirates all-star centerfielder has far and away been the best player on this team, and he has been one of the best players in the entire league when you look back at it.

Paul Maholm leads the pitching staff with a WAR of 2.2 and is followed by Jeff Karstens at 2.0. Joel Hanrahan is the only other pitcher with a WAR over 1 at 1.7.

Bottomline, it's been one heck of a first half for the Pirates. The offense seems to be on the rise, and if the pitching can stay consistent and perform how they have the first 3 months, this team will be in the race come September.