The Pirates are in a slump right now. They can't hit, score runs and the Starting Pitching hasn't been as strong as usual which means it's time to cue up the "Drama Queen" section of the Pirates Fan Base. The fans with one foot off the bandwagon, proclaiming it's collapse time and on the verge of trashing every player and piece of Management they were commending when the Pirates hit 14 games over .500.
Baseball is a LONG season. A losing streak of a few games, a series sweep isn't much over the span of a 162 game schedule. Slumps happen, series sweeps happen. This isn't the first time the Pirates have been swept this season. It won't be the last time they get swept either. Beyond that however, is a question I'd like to look at which is..
"Is this a good time for a slump"?
Let's look at the Pittsburgh Pirates. What's impressive is that they are 11 games over .500 despite having an Offense that is ranked #27 in Hitting, #25 in Runs Scored, #4 in Striking Out, and #26 at getting on base. When you look at those numbers you say "well, ****, the Pitching staff must be carrying the Pirates".
Except that it's not.
The Pittsburgh Pirates Starting Pitchers have a collective ERA that is ranked #22 in MLB, ranked #26 in IP's, #6 (worst) in Allowing Walks per BB/9.
The saving grace of the Pirates this year has been their Bullpen. Which the Starting Pitching failing more often than not to put up Quality Starts, the Bullpen has largely been reliable. It ranks #2 in ERA, however there's been a lot of luck involved. the bullpen is Ranked #15 in Strike Outs per 9 Innings, it's ranked #20 in Walks allowed per 9 Innings but has a vastly overachieving BABIP average against of .250 which is best in the league and in Fluke territory. The Pirates bullpen is #3 in IP's. At some point the bullpen is going to seem to collapse but what will happen is they will start performing closer to the level of expectation especially as fatigue sets in due to the Pitching Staff.
Combine all of these things and the fact that the Pittsburgh Pirates are 11 games over .500 is extremely impressive,. Statistically this team isn't even average right now and more importantly, there's room for mid season improvement (and hold your breathe, maybe late season improvement).
So, is this is a good time for the Pirates to slump?
Absolutely. Let this be their big slump of the season. The slump that has all of the bandwagoners jumping off. The one they proclaim doom over. The slump that takes the Pirates from 14 games over .500 and inches them closer to .500. Let the Pirates get it out of their system NOW, rather than later. It's a long season. You don't want to peak in June and July like the Pirates have done the past 2 seasons, you want them to peak in August and September, like Milwaukee did in 2011. Fix the pitching mechanics, the batters swings and all of those things now so that they can attack tiring teams late in the season. The Pitching Staff sure as heck has enough juice left in them since pitching a full 6 Innings is a rarity for them.
I've always felt that this Pittsburgh Pirates team was one that is a few games over .500 realistically. Anything more or less would be exceeding my expectations or very disappointing. Right now, my expectations are exceeded, but realistically, fans have to come to terms with the fact that this team is going to have peaks and valleys through a season whether we like it or not. The goal is to eliminate the length of those valleys, something the Pirates haven't managed to do late in the 2011 and 2012 seasons. The positive to slumping now compared to slumping in September and August is that there's less pressure right now to get out of the slump. Last season when they started their slump in August they were trying to hold onto 1st Place and then trying to hold onto a Playoff slot that they still had a chance at into September and then hold onto achieving a .500 or greater season. All of those things can lead to a team pressing, not to mention that psychological abuse of having gone through it the previous season. The Pirates can afford to fall a little bit right now to pick themselves back up later in the season. Seasons aren't decided in June or July. This is really a great time for all of the evil to get out of the Pirates, so they can make a late season surge and reverse recent history.
So, if you're willing to jump off the bandwagon in early June, do the real fans a favor and don't bother getting back on. This is a long season and hopefully a slump now leads to the success later!