Avast Behind!

How about those feel-good, game-winning Pittsburgh Pirates? How about that?

Yes, Jameson Taillon has gotten a few mediocre starts since I made this, but at least Ivan Nova, Trevor Williams, and the INCREDIBLE ROOKIE ARMWORK OF NICK KINGHAM are making me forget about that. Yeah, forgot to mention that the rotation of Nova-Taillon-Williams-Kuhl-Kingham is actually frigging amazing right now, even if Kuhl and Taillon are bringing up the rear ERA wise. This is more of a rotation than anyone had thought this team was capable of, and they're all playing great. Plus, Felipe Vazquez is cementing his status as a great closer, even if the rest of the bullpen is very hit-miss.

The lineup ain't bad either. Francisco Cervelli is having his first great season in yellow and black since 2015, Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco are making up for torrid 2017s, Corey Dickerson is adapting quickly to Pittsburgh, and Colin Moran is quickly getting his stuff together at third. This lineup, while far from perfect, is pretty damned great.

The one problem is that this division, unlike the AL Central, is STACKED. The Cubs, Brewers and Cardinals are also competing, and they're all very hot on the Pirates' tail. So as nice as this start is, the Pirates are going to NEED that this is a legitimate pattern for them, and not an April fluke. Because if they're going to get fans hopes up and just flake out halfway through, they need to rethink that...as that's what they've been doing for the past few seasons.

This team has finally gotten some much needed things working, and I sincerely hope they can keep the momentum together.

Coming Tomorrow- A future Hall of Famer (arguably), suiting up and heading up a powerful AL West team.