The Pirates 2020 debut was preceded by questions and predictions from fans of how the new form of this roster, without Starling Marte and Chris Archer, would do in 2020. Pirates fans are interestingly optimistic, and find the little things to keep them excited. Let's see how many of them have paid off so far this year.
1. Jarrod Dyson and Guillermo Heredia will save the Pittsburgh outfield: WRONG. Neither is hitting right now, even if Heredia was hired for his clutch abilities. Cole Tucker has been making starts in the outfield, and while he's hitting, it's a concerning choice for the career infielder.
2. The kids [Reynolds and Newman] will inherit this team. WRONG. I know, we're four games in and things can eventually even out, but they haven't gotten off to very nice starts.
3. Former Mets prospect Philip Evans will be a surprisingly good addition. RIGHT. This shocked me. Evans is hitting .400 in 4 games, and has the best average of Pirates starters, including Josh Bell and Colin Moran. It may be a 'Ryan Flaherty in Atlanta' sort of thing where he sort of mellows out as we go on, but this is a very interesting debut.
4. Joe Musgrove will fit right in as the staff ace. RIGHT...ish. He's yet to win a game, and his first start wasn't perfect, but his strikeout numbers and mound presence are befitting of an ace, and he should be fine going forward.
5. Mitch Keller's 2019 woes were flukey, and he'll jump right into success this year. RIGHT. I wasn't believing this one at all, but he went 5 strong innings while only allowing 1 run. This guy might be for real after all.
6. Keone Kela is a smart choice after all at closer. TOO SOON TO SAY. Right now he's on the DL and Nick Burdi's closing games, and he's doing pretty well. So maybe they won't NEED Keone Kela.
The team's a long way from dominating the division, but at least the pitching is doing alright.
Coming Tonight- A pitcher who's hoping he, and his rotation's first week woes will subside soon.
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