Buried Treasure

The Pirates have won three straight, they're tied for third with the Cardinals, and they're 4 games behind the pack in the Wild Card race. All in all, not a bad spot to be in.

Now, granted, things aren't PERFECT. I mean, Chris Archer's first two starts have left a bit to be desired, and he's a bit more reminiscent of his early-2018 work than the Pirates would like, but Jameson Taillon and Trevor Williams are still sharp, Joe Musgrove is mighty sneaky, and Ivan Nova, while down a bit since last year, is still a solid workhorse. Felipe Vazquez is a nice closer, and having Keone Kela and Kyle Crick backing him up is very wise. The pitching is probably the best it's been since the playoff runs, and that's saying a lot.

Heck, the rest of the lineup has come around as well. Gregory Polanco's been fine in the last month, Colin Moran has been giving nice work at third, even while being platooned with the ever-consistent David Freese (who I still...don't LOVE, but am glad he's being used correctly). Dickerson and Marte are still the standouts, as they should be. Adam Frazier's been doing some nice stuff from the bench, and Adeiny Hechavarria's been surprisingly good as a backup shortstop, and arguably deserves more playing time than Jordy Mercer.

And yet it's not even a sure thing, because A.) The Brewers, and B.) The NL Central is tough enough right now. Right now the races are pretty close, and the Cubs are still leading, but until someone pulls away, it may just stay like this. The Pirates, to circumvent that, might need to just go on a streak or so, and these three-wins-in-a-row might, in fact, help that factor.

Definitely pulling for the Pirates. They're a fun team, and they deserve a playoff win or two.

Coming Tomorrow- Insanely Good Astros Pitcher #4