For Whom the Bell Tolls

(Music Pun Streak #2. Yeah, Metallica. Also, I've mapped out the next like 10 music puns. I'm not promising they're all gonna be good. I'm looking at a fairly messy Beatles pun that's gonna go down next week, and an even messier U2 pun that's a few days away)

Yep. The Pittsburgh Pirates are in first place. And in a year where the favorites in that division included a Goldschmidt-fronted Cardinals, this is a very, VERY good thing.

The Pirates are one of those teams that have been pretty good all decade, but have never been especially lucky. They're a lot like the Nationals, except unlike the Nats, the Pirates won a playoff match. Yeah, the 2013 NL Wild Card game. And then they went and lost an NLDS. Thrilling stuff. But this is a team that's come within 2 games of 100 wins this decade, and would have made it to the 2015 playoffs had it not been for those cinderella Cubs.

So what's their deal now? Well, they've shed everyone who made up those initial competitive teams, save for Starling Marte, Francisco Cervelli and Francisco Liriano. They've developed a new core, with Josh Bell being the main offensive producer, and have compacted a new rotation of Chris Archer, Joe Musgrove, Jameson Taillon, Trevor Williams and Jordan Lyles. And it's going pretty damn well for them.

That rotation is the biggest factor, because...all five are playing beautifully right now. For Taillon and Archer, this kind of goes without saying, but...Joe Musgrove only hinted at his unhittableness during his first season in Pittsburgh last year, Trevor Williams has kept his ERA down, and Jordan Lyles, who hadn't been counted on as a consistent starter since playing for the Rockies, has an ERA below 3 for the first time in his career. Something pretty fantastic is happening with this rotation, and I'm glad it's happening in Pittsburgh. Not to mention...the bullpen is great too. Of course, knowing that Felipe Vazquez, Keone Kela, Kyle Crick and Francisco Liriano are all in there would probably lead you to that conclusion.

And the farm system keeps spitting out gold- Cole Tucker and Bryan Reynolds just made debuts and both hit home runs; Tucker seems to be the new option at shortstop, and I'm impressed so far. Jason Martin is only a few weeks old and is already a mainstay in this lineup. This lineup is proving that both youth (Martin, Tucker) and experience (Melky Cabrera) can work here. And I am so happy it's working well for them so far.

The one problem they have to deal with is...being in the NL Central. The Brewers and Cardinals are gonna be chasing them in the standings, and might ping-pong back and forth between first, second and third. The Pirates' main task will be staying afloat and relevant through those other two teams' rises and falls. It'd be fantastic if this team was still part of the conversation in September, and I hope they can work towards making that happen.

Coming Tomorrow- After doubling down too much on younger pitchers last year, the A's have settled on keeping experience in the rotation. Like this guy, who came up with the team earlier in the decade, and is still impressing today.