It's hard to believe the Pittsburgh Pirates are finally in contention after 18 years of losing baseball. Not only are they above .500 but they are also leading the NL Central at the time of this posting. What makes this story even more incredible is the fact the Pirates are doing it in spite of a rash of injuries to key contributors. 2010 All-Star Evan meek has missed quite a bit of time this year and has recently moved to the 60 Day DL.
Pedro Alvarez, who blasted 16 HR's in the latter half of the year in 2010 is finally ready to make a return to Pittsburgh.
Both the top two catchers on the roster from spring training, Chris Snyder and Ryan Doumit, have been hurt, and even normal third stringer Jason Jaramillo has also been hurt.
Ronny Cedeno may not be an upper tier offensive talent, but the loss of him defensively put a lot of pressure on the rookies to produce, and we've seen some good web gems out of Chase d'Arnaud and Brandon Wood.
Jose Tabata continues to be plagued by his quad injury and there is no set timetable for his return.
Even Steve Pearce, the local Pirate legend, has been hurt this year, stunting an otherwise obvious march to Cooperstown.
How long can the Pirates continue to work magic in the win column with this much talent coming in and out of the lineup. There's been a lot of debate about whether to buy or sell at the deadline, and I'm not sure there's a right or wrong answer at this point.
Over the weekend my heart as a Pirate fan tells me to go for it as they may never be at this point again. At the same time, my brain is telling me the Pirates pitching staff is due for a serious regression in the second half, and there's no way the offense, even with one or two additions, can compete for a division title if that happens.
Neil Huntington does deserve some credit for the talent he's brought in off waivers this year. Xavier Paul made a huge play to steal the last game of the Cardinals series tonight, and Brandon Wood can at least contribute at several positions.
I actually think the Pirates are better off staying away from rental players. Given the run of injuries this year, those players might likely get hurt for the playoff stretch and then the Pirates would truly have nothing left to show for it.
Try going after veteran players that have a bit left in the tank and are having career years. Try targeting players blocked in the minor leagues, someone like Chris Davis would be a strong choice, even if he did just get called up to Texas.
You have to make some moves if you are in contention, and Jason Grilli is not enough of a move in my opinion.
One week to get it done. A lot of Pirates fans new and old are counting on you Neil.
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