[ad_1]
The Pittsburgh Pirates are back on Earth after an amazingly good start to the season.
Best Team in the National League on April 24 The Pirates entered a three-game series at the Cleveland Guardians on Monday with the sixth-worst record in MLB.
Pittsburgh opened the season at 20-8, but has gone 21-44 since then and now has a 41-52 record.
•
The Pittsburgh Pirates were swept at home in a three-game weekend series against the San Francisco Giants and won only two of the team’s last 10 games.
Back in April, catcher Austin Hedges told Sports Illustrated as the team led the NL Central with a 16-7 record:
“It’s a winning atmosphere. That’s what we talked about in spring training, and we’ve been able to do that. The cool thing about that is, for a lot of the guys who haven’t really experienced that before, they don’t need to change. Exactly what we’re doing now is what we can We’re trying to do at 162. And if we do that, I think we’re a playoff team.”
However, after being swept by the Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates players struggle to keep their brave face. Outfielder Andrew McCutchen told PGH Baseball Now on Sunday:
“We’re 10 or 11 games under .500. People think we’ll be in a much worse position. We could be an Auckland A. Nothing against Auckland, but we can be in that position, where we have such difficulty starting from the beginning and trying now To play catch-up.
“Regardless, you could still say we had such a good April that we put ourselves in a position where we’re struggling, but we’re still in a place where we can hit some targets.”
Regarding the current mentality of the Pirates players, outfielder Brian Reynolds told PGH Baseball Now:
“We haven’t been playing baseball well lately. We’ve played baseball well this year, so we’ve shown that we can. We have to get back to that.”
Reynolds, one of Pittsburgh’s best young players, was the subject of trade rumors during the offseason. However, he surprised many by signing an eight-year, $106.75 million contract extension this spring.
Pittsburgh has not reached the postseason since 2015, the final of three consecutive playoff games.
Tough times for the Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pirates have qualified for the playoffs only six times since defeating the Baltimore Orioles to win the 1979 World Series. Pittsburgh lost the NL Championship Series three straight times from 1990-1992, falling to the Cincinnati Reds, Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies.
Pittsburgh is one of MLB’s oldest teams, having begun play in 1882. The team is 10,728-10,699 all-time, with 17 playoff appearances and five championships.
[ad_2]
