While it is completely acceptable to be disappointed, many fans took it to the next level, calling this season a total failure, among other things. The Pirates did fail to reach some of their goals this season, such as winning the NL Central and, as mentioned above, putting together a deep playoff run. But the fact is this team won 98 games, which has only been done twice in the past 107 seasons of baseball on the north shore. This team had the second best record in all of baseball at 98-64, and it is not their fault that the best team in baseball, the machine that is the St. Louis Cardinals, happens to play in their division. The Pirates won 10 more games than they did in 2014 and matched/slightly surpassed my wildest expectations for the regular season coming into spring training. With all of this being considered, it is hard for me not to be happy with the Pirates as a whole. People can call this team a massive failure all they want, but I think that a lot of these people using Twitter to call the team they are supposed to love a disgrace and say that Clint Hurdle is the worst manager in history, all while being extremely clever and wise in their own mind, really don't take too much time into putting things into perspective.
Hopefully, I can help put this season into perspective a little bit, and explain why I don't see this season as anything less than a successful year marred by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Let's break down some reasons why this season, last night aside, was not a failure.
Preseason Expectations
Coming into Spring Training, much was expected of this Pirates team. An NL Central title seemed like a reasonable goal, as Pittsburgh finished just two games behind the division champion St. Louis Cardinals. Many respected baseball journalists picked Pittsburgh to win the Central, and ESPN's Buster Olney (above) took it one step further by picking the Pirates to win the World Series. Coming into the year, I saw the Pirates winning between 90-95 games (they surpassed this with 98), and yes they were my pick to win the division. What I did not expect was how awesome St. Louis would be, and winning over 100 games would be a tall task to ask for a team that won just 88 the year before, so I think berating a team for slightly failing to reach the 100 win plateau that St. Louis reached is a little harsh. Looking back at my expectations for the Pirates lineup, nearly every hitter performed up to my expectations, and there were more overachievers than there were underachievers. The Pirates starting rotation and bullpen performed above my expectations, so it's hard for me to call this team a failure when nearly every key contributor performed up to reasonable standards.
Unfortunately, the Cardinals won 10 more games than they did in 2014, just like the Pirates, and finished two games above Pittsburgh in the NL Central standings. The Pirates were sadly not the best team in their division, and I am able to accept that because I know that the best team in the NL Central in 2015 was also the best professional baseball team on planet earth.
Overachievers Outnumber Underachievers
Remember early in the season when it looked like Mark Melancon's decreasing velocity on his cut fastball would be a major issue? Well, Melancon proved that this notion was bollocks by picking up a franchise record 51 saves, anchoring a bullpen that was among the best in baseball. How about the trade deadline? Joe Blanton and J.A. Happ were not expected be great contributors to this ride, but Blanton proved to be a great help out of the bullpen, going 5-0 down the stretch with an ERA of 1.57. Happ was a shot in the arm to a rotation that needed one, as he was absolutely outstanding during the final 2 months of the season, going 7-2 with an ERA of 1.85.
As for the underachievers, the ones that stand out to me as being disappointing are Gregory Polanco and Charlie Morton. Myself as well as a lot of other fans expected more from Polanco, but it needs to be noted that this was his first full season in the majors, and it is obvious that he still has a lot to learn about this great game of ours.
As for the underachievers, the ones that stand out to me as being disappointing are Gregory Polanco and Charlie Morton. Myself as well as a lot of other fans expected more from Polanco, but it needs to be noted that this was his first full season in the majors, and it is obvious that he still has a lot to learn about this great game of ours.
Gregory showed enough flashes of brilliance for me to believe that he will be a superstar one day. Charlie, on the other hand, has worn out his welcome as far as I'm concerned, and it would not be a shock to me if he doesn't throw another pitch for the Pirates ever again. It is up for debate for me to declare Pedro Alvarez an underachiever, as I felt his hitting was acceptable, while his awful fielding should not be looked at as a big surprise with the benefit on hindsight.
Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte, Neil Walker and Gerrit Cole all performed up to their expectations, as I don't think any of them overachieved or underachieved.
It is difficult for me to call a large group of overachievers failures.
Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte, Neil Walker and Gerrit Cole all performed up to their expectations, as I don't think any of them overachieved or underachieved.
It is difficult for me to call a large group of overachievers failures.
Baseball Balances Itself Out
There were plenty of winnable games that the Pirates lost, but let's not sit here and pretend that the Pirates didn't win their fair share of games that they shouldn't have won (*cough* Cardinals series before the All Star Break *cough*) The game has a balance, and the Pirates are no exception to that.
The Freaking Cubs
The main reason that I am talking about the Cubs is because of last night. As disappointing as it is, the Pirates losing the 2015 NL Wildcard Game should not be a major surprise to anybody. The reason for that is the genius of Jake Arietta. Before this season, nobody expected Arietta to become the best pitcher in all of baseball, but that is exactly what happened. It also didn't help that Arietta saved his best baseball for last, as he turned in a historically good final two months of the regular season. Losing to the best pitcher in baseball is nothing to be ashamed of, and all of this was made possible by the Cubs being so much better than anybody could have realistically envisioned. In short, a 98 team lost to a 97 win team when the 97 win team was starting the Ace of Aces. So, I don't think I'm drinking the Black and Gold Kool Aid when I say that the Pirates can be somewhat forgiven for coming up short. The Cubbies emergence was just another example of the Pirates tendency for being snake bitten this season.
4 words that accurately describe last nights game, as well as this entire season are: Wrong place, Wrong time.
And now, the #1 reason why this Pirates season should not be looked at as a massive failure is.......
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball team. The St. Louis Cardinals are a machine. It takes something truly admirable and astounding to keep a 98 win team from winning their own division, and unfortunately for the Pirates, the St. Louis Cardinals are the very definition of both of those words. Pittsburgh writers, fans and talk show hosts can talk all the livelong day about reasons why last nights one game playoff was necessary, but the #1 reason why the Pirates were not NL Central champs is because they simply were not the best team in the NL Central. The reason for this is that being the best baseball team in the NL Central would have required being the best baseball team in the world throughout the regular season. As much as we all love the Pittsburgh Pirates, and as well rounded and wonderful of a baseball team as they are, they are not the best baseball team in the world. The legacy of the 2015 Cardinals will be finalized once the dust settles on this postseason, but whatever happens in the playoffs, no rational baseball fan can deny that from early April to early October, the St. Louis Cardinals were the best baseball team God's green earth. It just so happens that they play in the NL Central.
What the Cardinals have done this season cannot be put into words, because it was that remarkable. The fact that they won 100 games is astonishing enough, but what really sets St. Louis apart from the Pirates as well as every other team in the league is how many things went wrong along the way. The biggest adversity St. Louis had to face this season happened on April 25th, when Adam Wainwright tore his Achilles tendon while performing a harmless sacrifice bunt. Wainwright is undoubtedly one of the best pitchers in the game as well as a leader both on the field and in the clubhouse, and losing him should have been enough to keep the Cards from winning 100 games. But wait, there's more!
The Cards also played for months at a time without the important services of Matt Holliday and Matt Adams. Adams, the teams starting first baseman and a very good one, was lost on May 26th with a torn quad muscle and was only able to play in 60 out of 162 games. Holliday, who is a model for consistency in Left Field as well as a clubhouse leader, was lost on June 8th with a quad strain. He was only able to play in 73 out of 162 games. If the Pirates had lost Gerrit Cole for 5/6 of the season, as well as Starling Marte and Neil Walker for over half of the season, while the Cardinals remained fairly healthy, how close would this race have been? In my opinion, not very close.
This season, the Cardinals were better than the Pirates, and there is no way around it. They are a machine that keeps being rebuilt even after seemingly breaking down. Mark Reynolds held down the fort for Adams at first base while Randal Girchuck hit .276 with 17 home runs in place of Holliday. As for replacing Wainwright, the rest of the Cards rotation was so good that fans almost forget he was injured. That is what makes St. Louis such a special organization, and they are a model for how to get the job done without a high payroll. They deserved to be champions more than the Pirates did. They were better than the Pirates, and this is a harsh, harsh reality but a reality nonetheless.
So, the Pirates being knocked out of the playoffs so early is a crying shame, but the season was not. The Pirates did everything they had to do throughout 162 games to set up a deep postseason run, but it just wasn't meant to be. Baseball emulates life in that it is not fair, and the 2015 Pirates were victims of this harsh reality. So, before you take the easy road in just looking at the fact that the Pirates did not win the division, and think that they therefore set themselves up to fail last night and that the whole season was a failure, it might be a good idea to put it all into perspective. This season may look like a disappointment on the surface, but sometimes the surface needs to be expanded far beyond the obvious.
I'm Joe Smeltzer, and I'd like to thank my Bucs for a GREAT SEASON! You are not failures no matter what anybody says.
What the Cardinals have done this season cannot be put into words, because it was that remarkable. The fact that they won 100 games is astonishing enough, but what really sets St. Louis apart from the Pirates as well as every other team in the league is how many things went wrong along the way. The biggest adversity St. Louis had to face this season happened on April 25th, when Adam Wainwright tore his Achilles tendon while performing a harmless sacrifice bunt. Wainwright is undoubtedly one of the best pitchers in the game as well as a leader both on the field and in the clubhouse, and losing him should have been enough to keep the Cards from winning 100 games. But wait, there's more!
The Cards also played for months at a time without the important services of Matt Holliday and Matt Adams. Adams, the teams starting first baseman and a very good one, was lost on May 26th with a torn quad muscle and was only able to play in 60 out of 162 games. Holliday, who is a model for consistency in Left Field as well as a clubhouse leader, was lost on June 8th with a quad strain. He was only able to play in 73 out of 162 games. If the Pirates had lost Gerrit Cole for 5/6 of the season, as well as Starling Marte and Neil Walker for over half of the season, while the Cardinals remained fairly healthy, how close would this race have been? In my opinion, not very close.
This season, the Cardinals were better than the Pirates, and there is no way around it. They are a machine that keeps being rebuilt even after seemingly breaking down. Mark Reynolds held down the fort for Adams at first base while Randal Girchuck hit .276 with 17 home runs in place of Holliday. As for replacing Wainwright, the rest of the Cards rotation was so good that fans almost forget he was injured. That is what makes St. Louis such a special organization, and they are a model for how to get the job done without a high payroll. They deserved to be champions more than the Pirates did. They were better than the Pirates, and this is a harsh, harsh reality but a reality nonetheless.
So, the Pirates being knocked out of the playoffs so early is a crying shame, but the season was not. The Pirates did everything they had to do throughout 162 games to set up a deep postseason run, but it just wasn't meant to be. Baseball emulates life in that it is not fair, and the 2015 Pirates were victims of this harsh reality. So, before you take the easy road in just looking at the fact that the Pirates did not win the division, and think that they therefore set themselves up to fail last night and that the whole season was a failure, it might be a good idea to put it all into perspective. This season may look like a disappointment on the surface, but sometimes the surface needs to be expanded far beyond the obvious.
I'm Joe Smeltzer, and I'd like to thank my Bucs for a GREAT SEASON! You are not failures no matter what anybody says.
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