Bucs Need Pedro, But Fans Need to Relax

Fans are jumping off the Pirates bandwagon faster than they jumped on and that new found trust in the front office has just about dwindled down to nothing.



Just a week before the trading deadline, the Pirates have yet to make a move. While it's still hard to figure out what might be available to the Pirates, one thing we do know is that their hottest commodity is ripping apart Triple-A pitching right now. That commodity is Pedro Alvarez who, after Saturday night, is batting .350 with three homeruns. His strikeout totals remain high but I think we all can agree with this sentiment, "Who cares?"

[Here are a few articles from Bob Smizik and Gene Collier of the Post-Gazette for more perspective:

http://communityvoices.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php/sports/bob-smiziks-blog/29514-by-refusing-to-recall-alvarez-pirates-in-some-kind-of-denial

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11204/1162489-63-0.stm?cmpid=pirates.xml

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11205/1162669-150-0.stm ]

I understand that a patient approach is necessary to ensure that a player doesn't hinder himself, particularly from a mental standpoint, at any point during his development. However, this situation is different. The Pirates sit just a game back in the NL Central and have a chance to pull back into a tie for first on Sunday with a win and a Brewers loss. Not to mention the Pirates replacements at third, Chase D'Arnaud and Brandon Wood, are each batting just .215 (just 7 points higher than Pedro's average that got him demoted) and they will be the co-starters heading into a stretch against the two best teams in the National League, the Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies. Plus, after July 28th, if the Pirates do not call him up, they will use up one of Pedro Alvarez' options. The time to bring Pedro Alvarez back to the big leagues is undoubtedly now.

[The above paragraph makes this article even more dumbfounding from Rob Biertempfel of the Tribune-Review]

With all of that being said, the fans (and some media members) in Pittsburgh are showing their inexperience in rooting for a contending baseball team. They may be well-versed in cheering the Steelers and Penguins to glory, but the Pirates are a different breed.

162 games are played between the beginning of April and the end of September. At last check, no team has ever had an undefeated season. But still, with every loss, these "loyal" fans are all over radio shows, Facebook, Twitter, etc. spelling out the impending doom we are apparently in the midst of facing.

Wake up people. Please. I beg you. I'm starting to feel like I live in the frontrunning Philadelphia market again...

This team just lost only their second series since May 27 and yet I've almost started to think we haven't won one since then.

Paul Maholm hadn't given up more than three earned runs in any home appearance this season and has been tantamount to the Pirates success. Ohhhhh, it slipped my mind that we forget all of that once he gives up four runs once.

The team hasn't made a trade yet, but who has? No one knows what's actually out there and available to the Pirates, and yet everyone suggests that the front office isn't serious because they haven't made a move yet. There's a week left! Be patient, these things really don't happen overnight. The name most people cling to as a trade target is Carlos Pena, but there are reports he isn't even on the block. If that's the case there was never any chance he was going to be traded anyway. So if teams don't even know who they're selling, how can the Pirates possibly know who to buy?

To be fair, I am nervous that the Pirates will go back to their post-1992 ways sooner rather than later, but I am not ready to write this team off as a flash in the pan quite yet. This team has led us on an incredible ride and I'm not ready for that to end. Even after a three game losing streak, the team still sits just a game out of first with a chance to tie tomorrow. Can you really ask for more from a team that lost 105 games last year and hasn't had a winning season in 18 years? The Bucs may falter down the stretch, but one little lull with over one-third of the season remaining will not derail my hopes for a pennant chase.

Stop listening to the non-believers and their sabermetrics. I don't care that Jeff Karstens' inability to balance an egg on his head, while chopping a tree, and standing on one leg affects his DIPS (don't ask me what that stands for) and therefore will somehow affect his pitching performance from now until September. You can crunch every number in the world, but there is no replacement for the value of wins and losses, and as of today the Pirates look pretty good.

How the Pirates will look a week, month, or year from now, I have no idea, but I'm not going to sit and guess. So feel free to continue to wallow in sorrow for the potential death of the Pirates, but please excuse me while me and my fellow optimists continue to enjoy what's actually unfolding. Right guys?... Guys? Hmmm... Where'd they all go?


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