For a few weeks in July, the Pirates were a serious favorite to win the NL Central. They crawled up the standings, powered by great performances from Starling Marte, Francisco Cervelli and Jameson Taillon, with Trevor Williams and Joe Musgrove even having some nice starts.
...and then August happened. And even if the Pirates had went and traded their future (Austin Meadows, Tyler Glasnow and Shane Baz) for Chris Archer, not even that could stop their sharp, steep decline. The Cardinals seized the momentum, the Brewers got better, and the Pirates couldn't contend suddenly, even with their surprisingly nice core.
But...at the end of the day, the Bucs really aren't anything more than just a streaky little team that's okay for most of the season and was really good for a few weeks. And, in their first season without flagship star Andrew McCutchen, that's a pretty good thing to say. It's nice to know that the rotation can step up even in a weak year for Ivan Nova, and that the lineup can rise up even in Gregory Polanco's recent doldrums. And it's still nice to know that Felipe Vazquez and Keone Kela are probably sticking around.
It's become evident that, unless something big happens next year, the Pirates may be relegated to being a third or fourth place squad for the rest of this decade, which isn't a great outlook, but considering what this team still has, and who might be sticking around next year, it could be a lot worse.
Coming Tomorrow- Desperate times in Anaheim call for crafty prospects.
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