It's so refreshing. Two straight years the Pirates have been basically a front for Paul Skenes's highlight reels and showcases for his agent, and now, finally, there's an actual baseball team to build around Skenes. Actual other ballplayers who can actually play well, and actual depth that can actually keep this team in the conversation for the next few months. Not that I figured it would never happen, but the fact that it hasn't in so long, and now we're here...is just really refreshing. There's actual things to talk about!
Bringing in Brandon Lowe, Jake Mangum, Ryan O'Hearn and Jhostynxon Garcia onto this team is some long-awaited wise thinking from management, cause they've all greatly improved this team's output. Brandon Lowe's having another phenomenal year, with 15 homers and 41 RBIs already. He might make an all-star team at this rate. O'Hearn's hitting .286 with 9 homers and 33 RBIs, doing exactly what they signed him to do. Mangum's a .291 hitter that's also an excellent outfield depth piece. And Garcia, though the team doesn't completely have room for him yet, is a dangerous hitter who, when he has made contact, has done some damage. In addition, Bryan Reynolds is having his best season in a while, with an .805 OPS and 39 RBIs. Spencer Horwitz has an .846 OPS and is still surging. Oneil Cruz can obviously still rake in between the frustration. It's a very full lineup, and one that might only get better as they figure out some of the last few details [like an actual viable catching option, which is weird to say when Henry Davis and Endy Rodriguez were supposed to be so good].
And then, right when Paul Skenes gets rocked for a few starts, Braxton Ashcraft is able to step up and take the brunt of the workload effortlessly. He's currently 5-3 with a 3.28 ERA and 86 Ks [more than Skenes!] This is a more human year for Skenes, as his ERA's over 3 and he's getting hit more often than usual, probably the effect of pitching for 2 years straight. The down seasons are gonna happen, just hopefully they're only this and not full burnout. You also have Jared Jones slowly returning to his old self, Bubba Chandler finding the strike zone, Mitch Keller trying to stay consistent and Carmen Mlodzinski all but assuring he'll be dealt in a month and a half. The bullpen's not great but it was a lot worse before.
Just very refreshing to see a Pirates team this good, and one that's able to soundly beat the Astros, Cubs and Reds. This week they're playing the Dodgers. Considering how well the Braves series went, this could be similarly rough, but Skenes is pitching in one of these games, so maybe they'll keep things rolling.
Coming Tonight: The Yanks had nowhere to play him....but the Angels certainly did. And now they're being rewarded.
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