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I look at Pittsburgh's lineup and wonder, how are they in contention?

Frobby

By Frobby
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DrungoHazewood Hangout Grand Counsel

DrungoHazewood

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Very true - I've been saying this for years. The Cardinals have had the easiest trip the playoffs for most of the past 15 years.

Folks think LaRussa is/was a genius, but getting the Cards to the playoffs has not been a high bar to clear given how bad the Reds, Brewers, Astros and Cubs have been for most of that time.

The Cards won the Series a few years back with a team that probably wins 74 games in the AL East.

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MrOrange82 Hangout Grand Counsel

MrOrange82

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I'm not sure I understand. The Pirates are five games better than their runs scored and allowed suggest through 60 games. The sum of their offensive results indicates they've created about 205 runs, while they've scored 197. All that's well within the bounds of reasonable outcomes.

I'm not sure I understand why you don't understand. If you acknowledge that they've outperformed expectations, then you're not contesting what I said (the fact that "defiant" is a strong-sounding word doesn't mean that the Pirates' performance is completely "out of left field"...it just defies the numbers in that the team's season-outcome should be worse than it's been).

"Within the bounds" and "I expected this result" are not the same thing. However, if you'd honestly expect a team as offensively-offensive as the Pirates to be sitting at 32-28 (and in second place in their division) at this point in the season, I suppose we'll just have to agree to disagree in re: what it means to "defy the odds," so to speak.

And here I thought my comment was fairly innocuous...

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Easternshoreguy2 Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

Easternshoreguy2

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Winning is winning it does not matter who you beat or who you have. So if the Pirates won the world series it would not mean as much because they come from a weak division. However, Texas comes from a weak division and are the two time reigning Al champions so do they not deserve to be there?

This is about the winning perspective not talent because most are saying thier winning because of the weak division they are in.

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DrOrioles90210 Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

DrOrioles90210

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They have a lot of young talent in their system.

Jones, Alverez (SP?), McCutchen, etc.

Jones is barely ok and he's 31 in a week. Alvarez has talent but he has so many issues. He's striking out almost as much as Reynolds but doesn't walk like or hit homeruns like Reynolds.

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Rene88 Hangout Grand Counsel

Rene88

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I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. One of the better Twilight Zone episodes. Take off the bandages and the Pirates have a nice team. Phillies fans asked the same question at Sunday's game. Tolleson,Chavez.Betemit,Pearce,Flaherty,Paulino.

LOL-Exactly what I was thinking. Look at the guy pitching tonight and his ERA:)

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Camden_yardbird Hangout Grand Counsel

Camden_yardbird

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They have McCutchen and ....?

Pitching and Defense

Burnett and Bedard have been very solid

James McDonald may be one of the 10 best pitchers in the NL this season

Their bullpen is lights out. Look at the season Jason Grilli is having.

Barmes, Walker, McCutchen, Alvarez, Tabata and Pressley are all very good defensively.

Neil Walker should not be underrated either. He was a catcher when drafted and has taken to second with a little more pop than most second basemen. He also learned a lot about second base from Bill Mazeroski - as such I don't know if you will find a second baseman who turns a nicer double play.

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DrOrioles90210 Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

DrOrioles90210

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Pitching and Defense

Burnett and Bedard have been very solid

James McDonald may be one of the 10 best pitchers in the NL this season

Their bullpen is lights out. Look at the season Jason Grilli is having.

Barmes, Walker, McCutchen, Alvarez, Tabata and Pressley are all very good defensively.

Neil Walker should not be underrated either. He was a catcher when drafted and has taken to second with a little more pop than most second basemen. He also learned a lot about second base from Bill Mazeroski - as such I don't know if you will find a second baseman who turns a nicer double play.

My quote was in response to Mayor McCheese saying they have a lot of young talent. Beyond McCutchen and maybe Walker, that's pretty much it. I'm glad the O's are missing Burnett and McDonald, but even happier they're getting a second shot at Correia after they couldn't hit him last year in Pitt.

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Trackmaster Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

Trackmaster

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I think that the OP was asking how they are winning when their stats are bad. Bad competition doesn't explain bad stats that translates into wins. It might be the flaw in the stats that people are looking at. Remember that we've learned in the last 10 years that most of the traditional old-fashioned stats are fatally flawed, and don't do a great job of being translated into value and wins. If they're batting averages are bad, and ERA is high, maybe they're drawing walks, converting baserunners into runs efficiently, and not giving up many unearned runs.

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