Can the Pirates end their infamous losing streak this year? In two words- probably not. In the early part of the season, there has been a glaring weakness for the team- they CAN’T HIT the ball! They rank near the bottom of almost every hitting statistic in the league. They are last in batting average, home runs, and on base percentage. And they are not even last by a point or two. It’s a pretty big gap in almost every stat between them and the next worst team. Their power hitter of the future, Pedro Alvarez, is batting around .050 and is on pace to break the alltime record for strikeouts by a better in one season! On the bright side, the pitching looks pretty good, Andrew McCutchen is signed to a long term deal, and PNC Park is still a great place to watch a game. But to me, that is not nearly enough to end the Pirates‘ 19 year losing streak. It looks like they will make it two straight decades of losing.
Filed under: Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Pirates, Polls, Sports, Teen Interest Tagged: | baseball, pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Pirates, sports, teens
I hope it is, Jim.
Also forgive me for trusting that Alvarez’s average improves–the ten game sample set is suspect. : )
AND, long-suffering Buccos fans might want to check out this week’s episode of This American Life–there’s a great story about 70s Pirates All-Star Pitcher Steve Blass, infamous for suddenly losing his ability to pitch not long after winning game 7 of the ’71 series. http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/462/own-worst-enemy
I’m hoping! But it does not look good. And Alvarez is having a tough time.