The Pittsburgh Pirates' failures in the recent past have hidden pockets of isolated strength. For instance, in 2006, Jason Bay was a true star, and Freddy Sanchez was the league-leading hitter, but the pitching was spotty (except for after the All-Star game, when the Bucs actually went 37-35 for a winning "half" season).
In 2007, starters Ian Snell and Tom Gorzelanny had good years, but Bay was injured, and Sanchez and catcher Ronny Paulino also regressed. In 2008, just as Bay rebounded, and Nate McLouth and Xavier Nady had breakout years, the Pirates' pitching fell apart with the regressions of Snell, Gorzelanny and the newly acquired Matt Morris.
Not to mention the fact that Jose Bautista, whom the Pirates traded away in disgust, had a breakout year two years in the future (2010) in Toronto, and similarly, former utility outfielder Rajai Davis may be doing the same in 2011.
For the pre-2008 Pirates, one analyst calculated their win potential at 94 games, enough to get to the playoffs—if they all had career years the same year.
A number of things started to come together for the Bucs early in 2011. A year ago, I wrote that a sloppy opening series that was won, 2-1, "reeked of defeat," because the Los Angeles Dodgers had outhit and outscored the Bucs in the aggregate, but failed to get "clutch" hits at critical times.
This year, the winning opening series was much more satisfying, because the Pirates actually had the material to win two out of three in doing so.
The first three starters all put up starts of six or more innings. Two out of three held Chicago to less than three earned runs, for quality starts.
It began with Kevin Correia, whose career has largely paralleled that of former starter Zach Duke, including an Opening Day start. But his form suggests that we may get a (reasonably good) 2009 "Duke," or at least a serviceable (2008) one, not the (awful) 2010 starter.
Paul Maholm's shutout six-and-two-thirds innings was at the top of his game, which is to say, a more or less "average" start for a "true" ace. If, contrary to expectations, he continues to pitch this way for the rest of the year, the team probably will exercise its $9.75 million option on him for next year.
Ross Ohlendorf is still a bit off his game. But he seems to be coming along, considering that he is coming back from last year's injury, and a rough spring training. For now, he deserves the benefit of the doubt, considering that he threw six innings, although the four runs represented a "non-quality" star.
The young homegrown top of the lineup, Jose Tabata, Neil Walker, Andrew McCutchen and Pedro Alvarez showed its potency. Veteran Lyle Overbay, a signing from the Toronto Blue Jays, is holding his own in the cleanup spot.
Neil Walker, in particular, hit an Opening Day grand slam, only the second time in Pirates' history (the first being the legendary Roberto Clemente, with whom Walker's own father was closely tied).
Garrett Jones may have regained at least part of his 2009 form and hit a home run in the series.
The question marks remain Matt Diaz, Jason Jaramillo and Ronnie Cedeno, but two of those three play key defensive positions (catcher and shortstop), where defense is valued to the point a sacrificing hitting ability.
The largest disappointment so far has been the bullpen, specifically Evan Meek's poor outing in the second game that led to Chicago's scoring five runs in one inning (three of them unearned). Meek gives up this many runs in an inning about once per season.
This, together with the critical error by Lyle Overbay (who made only three errors all of last season) represented a "perfect storm" and a lost game in an otherwise triumphant weekend.
Unlike 2010, the Pittsburgh Pirates are off to a good start this year. If they can continue to play near the top of their game, they will surprise most observers on the upside.
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