The pitching has been great and the offense has been horrible, there's no need to go into that. For what the Pirates have done at the plate, I don't think anybody should be complaining about an 8-10 record right now.
Today's double header was a really encouraging show for the Pirates, despite splitting the games and wasting the best start of James McDonald's career. Here's why.
Pedro Alvarez. Who else would I talk about first? Alvarez mashed the ball today for two home runs and a double in eight at-bats. Both of his home runs were no doubters to left field off right handed pitchers. His double was just as if not more encouraging, as it came off a left handed pitcher and went to opposite field. Alvarez has been hitting the ball hard lately and working counts much better. This is exactly the kind of improvement we were hoping to see.
That is huge. He is the kind of guy that you have to pay attention to when he steps into the box. He is that exciting of a hitter. The first home run was on a swing that wouldn't go out for most batters in the league. It was a change up that he was a bit ahead of, but he showed his true power in driving the ball out to right center field on a line.
I know this isn't logical, but right now this just seems like a team that is figuring things out. Clint Barmes hit the ball extremely well this series, and Garrett Jones looked fantastic as well. Alex Presley is on a 10 game hitting streak and Andrew McCutchen is still Andrew McCutchen. Rod Barajas still looks lost and there is a ton of inconsistency, but this team couldn't stay as bad as they had been all year long and it seems like now is when they're going to start turning it around. It also helps that they aren't facing Cy Young pitching anymore.
The pitching has been great all year and today really enforced that. James McDonald took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, which is incredibly impressive. The guy is really, really tough to hit when he's throwing strikes and in a good rhythm. Clint Hurdle talks about rhythm and pace all the time and that's something they are focusing closely on with McDonald. He seemed to have that all figured out today as he cruised through seven innings giving up just one hit. I've been saying it since we have got him, this guy could be an all-star type pitcher if once he figures everything out. Charlie Morton has also been mixing up his pitches better, and he saw some serious results with it today as he went seven innings of his own giving up just one run. Fortunately for Chuck, the Pirates got him some offense and he got the win that he deserved. Those two are huge names for the Pirates, and it's incredibly encouraging to see them pitching so well. The best part of this is that these aren't even the team's top two pitchers. With Erik Bedard and A.J. Burnett on top of the rotation there is less pressure on these two and they are forming quite a rotation.
We have played the toughest schedule in the league to this point, and there is some greener grass ahead. The next few series won't be easy with Atlanta, St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Washington on the slate. After that they get three at home with Houston before going to Miami. Taking eight out of the first 18 brutally tough games is a good thing. They just need to hover around .500 and then make their move when the schedule gets a bit easier.
I'm not predicting playoffs or anything like that, but the Pirates play on this home stand has been very encouraging and I can definitely see them staying relevant for a good amount of time.