This sensationally see-saw summer for the 130th edition of the Pittsburgh Baseball Club hit the All-Star break Sunday with so, so very much to appreciate, didn't it?
It's got a prodigious lineup. Maybe the best in these parts since Willie Stargell's Fam-a-lee, and yes, I'm bypassing the 1990s. Top to bottom, I'll take this everyday eight.
As Starling Marte told me while packing his bag for San Diego following the Pirates' 6-5 loss to the Cubs, "We can hit. We feel good about that. We can hit with anybody."
They sure can. And that's partially because they've got the best bench in Major League Baseball in Matt Joyce, David Freese and now possibly John Jaso.
They've also got the best closer in Mark Melancon and, Sunday's hiccup aside, one of the best setup men in Tony Watson. The middle relief has picked up, too.
Also, in general, they've got a group that's displayed a genuine resiliency, the kind every team covets, to get on a roll toward contention and beyond. They battle. They eat dirt. They dive headfirst into fences. They dance together like fools. They just look comfortable in a winning skin, and that's not easily achieved in any walk of life.
Here's how Josh Harrison described it in a good talk we had after this game: "None of the teams from the recent years feel the way this one does. And everyone here knows it."
He then motioned with his head down the hall.
"They know it, too."
The Cubs, he meant.
Let me be clear: No one deserves more credit for all this than Neal Huntington.
He's hardly alone, and I don't mean to omit Clint Hurdle during what might be the most creative managerial work of his career, but the GM is definitely at the top. He's been building this since late 2007, and it's much more than a foundation that's in place.
So answer this: Why is he the only one who apparently can't appreciate it?
Really, how else to explain being the architect of something as positive as all of the above, yet being unwilling to address this absolutely abysmal rotation?
Especially after ignoring it all winter and publicly acknowledging that error.
Especially after Gerrit Cole and Francisco Liriano, the only reliable starters he bothered to employ entering the season, went south right from the get-go.
Especially after it was exposed that Juan Nicasio was still a reliever.
Especially after ... man, Jon Niese. I mean, seriously.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdwL4ZCwVoI
This would be Huntington's worst trade, if it weren't for throwing away the next Babe Ruth for a third-string catcher, and I say that independent of Neil Walker being brazenly dumped to procure him. It would be an affront if Niese ever makes another start in Pittsburgh. The Pirates need to go the full Matt Morris.here, swallow the $9.75 million and move on.
And still, somehow, in the face of all that, not a solitary move has been made aside from the overdue promotions of top prospects Jameson Taillon and Tyler Glasnow.
Not one.
Why?
Listen to Huntington in his Sunday gathering with reporters here at PNC Park, explaining his thinking on the Pirates being buyers at the deadline. It's long but worth it: "We were strong that our intent was to add for the sixth consecutive season and, obviously, we always prepare for the downside. We prepared for the first year we added in 2011. We always prepare for the downside. But the intent was always to add. We have a little bit of a moving window in terms of what's best to add to the club and when you have guys step forward who were scuffling. We knew we had an incredibly tough stretch from the last series of May to the first series after the All-Star break. In a perfect world, 6-20 is not where we wanted to go. But this club has battled back. They showed their resiliency. And this club believes they can still do some special things and intend to do some special things. We wanted to remain patient. We wanted to remain steadfast and believe in this group. They’ve given us every reason to do that."
Uh, what?
These players had given "every reason to do that" by winning 98 flipping games in 2015!
And they've given "every reason to do that" by virtue of all they've done since, including another wonderful but wasted rally Sunday:
Huntington's assessment is richly instructive, though, as to how this front office thinks: They see this process, in its utopian form, as an endless cycle that affords multiple chances at the playoffs because they see the latter as primarily luck-based.
To an extent, of course, they're right. Baseball, more than any of the major sports, has a crapshoot postseason, largely because of the fickle nature of pitching. That part I understand.
But I also understand that a team's chances are greatly heightened by avoiding the one-and-done, as evidenced by the Pirates having one Blackout and two Blowouts to show for the past three Octobers. There is real value in a deep team getting into a real round.
Which should mean, in turn, there's real value in giving that team the best chance all season, not just when the front office waits to see how the buy/sell meter shows up in June or July.
I'll say it since no one else will: That's pathetic.
But wait, more from Huntington: "The nice part is the bar is set high for someone to come in and make us better. We’ve got some guys who are doing some really good things. Can we continue to do it consistently? Is there someone out there or are are there somebodies out there who can make us better? Sure. What’s the acquisition cost? What’s the opportunity cost? Time will tell if we’re able to add as we’ve done the last five years."
He's still either undecided or uncertain. Amazing.
The Pirates won nine of 11 entering this break. They're 46-43, they're within 7 1/2 of the sagging Cubs, they're within 1 1/2 of the wild card, and every reason exists to expect -- not wish, not wait, not wonder but to expect -- they'll be back in the playoffs again.
Hurdle, as usual, gets it. When asked after this game what his team needs to do, he began with the PC route, then cut to the chase: "We've got to get a little better everywhere. But it would be nice to get more innings from the starters."
Consider the canyon separating the hitting, which ranks in the majors' top 10 in most categories, and that starting pitching:
Graphic: DALI KOVACEVIC / DKPSWant another?
The Pirates are 28-13 when their starter goes six-plus innings, 18-30 when he doesn't. In more than half the games, the starter fails to do even the most routine job.
Think the clubhouse isn't aware of this?
In my talk with J-Hay, he wondered aloud how Cole fared in his Sunday rehab start in Indianapolis. But before I had a chance to look it up on my phone, Cutch over at the next stall chimed in: "Five scoreless. Two hits. Six Ks." To which J-Hay came back, "Nice!"
Yeah, they're aware.
You know, they teach in real-world history that those who lead the revolution tend to be lousy at governing, and let this be Exhibit A in professional sports. Because for all Huntington was able to do with the damage from the devastating Dave Littlefield era -- and no one documented that process more intensely or as effusively as I did -- he still doesn't seem to grasp that the finishing punch doesn't come via dice roll.
He actually has to deliver that.
Not Taillon or Glasnow. Though their contributions would be most welcome, they can't be expected, given Taillon's shoulder and Glasnow's fastball command.
Certainly not Chad Kuhl or Steven Brault. Neither looks remotely ready.
No, not even Jeff Locke, the sudden and startling ace of the staff.
There's nowhere for Huntington to hide from this challenge. He needs to be willing to move a prospect, if needed, preferably one from the outfield pool for obvious reasons. He needs to see this team for what it is right now, not in 2017 or 2027 or 3037. Because this manager, these players and this fan base deserve more than another spin of the cycle.
He needs to add a starter or two, and he needs to do it ... well, several months ago.