They won yesterday to start the season 1-0. Therefore, I figured it was time to start this thread, since I apparently hadn't done so previously. Either that or I just didn't see it and was too lazy to put much actual effort into looking for it.

Oneil Cruz opened with a homer and the relief pitching was solid. Keller was good at striking people out, but his control was a bit questionable. For him to continue progressing towards hopefully being good, he'll need to get more than 4.1 innings out of 100 pitches.

Anyway, above .500 after one game is a positive. Discuss.

Lol

O’Neil Cruz is high up on my must watch list. Looks like he added 20 lbs of muscle. Can’t wait for the Reds to bring up Ely De La Cruz…same build and player type

posted by Ironman92

Lol

O’Neil Cruz is high up on my must watch list. Looks like he added 20 lbs of muscle. Can’t wait for the Reds to bring up Ely De La Cruz…same build and player type

Yeah, I remember the announcers were talking about De La Cruz and comparing the two. I think both of our teams have a LOT of young talent that could be difference-makers -- it's just a matter of doing a good job of developing them and not stunting their growth through stupid stuff like trying to manipulate service time. I think for the Pirates, bringing back Cutch and signing guys like Santana will be of help just due to those guys being really respected vets. And on a selfish note, damn it's good to see Cutch back in the right uniform. Regardless of his production this year, I'm just happy he's back. Easily my favorite player of the 2000s and a huge part of the reason the team broke their streak of total futility and was good for three years.

Undefeated and untied; also undefeated in 1 run games.  What a ball club! 

McCutchen did have some good things to say about Cruz. 

I’m here for a Bryan Reynolds 35 Home Run season! (Mainly for my fantasy team, but I’ve enjoyed Reynolds over the last few years)

Over .500

Keller 6 innings of one-hit ball thus far in Beantown 

Nice to sweep the Sox. And nice to see Keller have a very good start after being a bit erratic against the Reds.

After 7/162 of the season, the Pirates are Wild Card #1 with a four-game win streak! Damn Brewers and their 6-1 record...

Oneil Cruz…..so sad

posted by birddog23

Oneil Cruz…..so sad

That slide was so indecisive

Yes. That sucked. That is all.

Was the on deck guy communicating? Catcher was in position to receive a throw….safe thing to do is assume a slide.

Sucks

posted by Ironman92

Was the on deck guy communicating? Catcher was in position to receive a throw….safe thing to do is assume a slide.

Sucks

Nope, then tried to start a brawl.  Carlos Santana should know better

Nice three-game sweep of the horrible Rockies. Up to 12-7 and looking like a legit team. Don't know how long they'll keep that going, but adding some quality vets like Cutch, Santana and Hill does seem to be a good help for their young nucleus.

Team is playing great right now, even if the wins are coming against teams with sub-.500 records. Hard to lose too often when you get quality starts every time out and have solid relief pitching far more often than not. Team is legit fun to watch so far, which is a pleasant surprise after the last couple years, when it was basically "enjoy Reynolds and hope the young guys, when they get called up, can live up to their reputation".

They aren’t bad man

Wow!  14-7!

Tied for 4th best in the majors. 

7 straight and in first place in the division.    Hard to believe.

Heretic drunk due to happiness instead of depression. I'm happy for you.

Something like 34-12 vs Reds at PNC last 46 games

posted by justincredible

Heretic drunk due to happiness instead of depression. I'm happy for you.

It is a weird thing for this time of the year. I wouldn't have picked them to be first in the division and only second to Tampa overall in MLB on April 24, but I'll take it! Starting pitching has been great so far, relief pitching has been rock solid, at least with the key guys. Offense has been better than expected with Cutch and Santana having good bounce-back years so far and less-heralded guys like Connor Joe being great. Even the bad stuff has turned out to not be a total negative. Sucks that Cruz got hurt, but Marcano and Mathias have both shown a lot in their time on the field. I remember last year thinking that Marcano, Suwinski and Cal Mitchell all seemed to have potential, but weren't able to put it together with consistency. Suwinski is doing well so far and Marcano has shown ability in his appearances, so I'm hoping that's a good sign.

Bednar has been real good

posted by Ironman92

Bednar has been real good

He was real good last year until around the All-Star break. Think he'd pulled something in his back around that time and never really got back to 100%. When healthy, he's as good a closer as there is in the bigs.