Theoretically Within Reach

The Pirates are one game over .500, one game behind the Cardinals for third place, and eight games behind the first place Chicago Cubs. You wouldn't think that a division featuring the Brewers and Cubs can BE this close...and yet the Bucs and Cards are RIGHT THERE.

Without the present context, it would seem odd, but...you look at the Bucs' lineup, and they're not doing too badly. What, with Startling Marte and Corey Dickerson playing like pros? Josh Bell and Colin Moran are hustling from the corners. Elias Diaz is a surprisingly potent backup catcher. Jordy Mercer, despite hitting the same average he hits every year, is picking up some slack at the end of the lineup.

Again, only Dickerson and Marte are TRULY standing out in the lineup, but nobody's doing poorly, either. Same goes for the rotation- Jameson Taillon has the best stats, and everyone's pitching around 4.00 ERA. Nobody's completely divebombing, but there's also no real standout. A lot of people, like Nick Kingham, Joe Musgrove, Ivan Nova and Trevor Williams, just aren't throwing anything too special. Not bad, but...not memorable, either.

Again, it could be a lot worse. They have more pitching than the 5th place team. And the bullpen is surprisingly nice, even with a chance of Felipe Vazquez getting flipped.

The problem here is that, even if they are in position to make a run, they may not have as much going for them as someone like the Cubs or Brewers...or even the Cardinals, who have a few more standouts. They may lose out on competing simply by lack of key pieces. Unless they'd truly like to pick someone up in the next week or so, they might need to see what kind of momentum they can pick up.

Coming Tonight: Quite possibly the single most consistent home run hitter of this decade. And here he is, leading another Mariners team to glory.