"The lineup is longer. I think the lineup is stronger."
Clint Hurdle's a magnificently well-spoken individual and, even by his high standard, that rhythmic beauty Monday evening stood out. And only partially because it was accompanied by a fair measure of truth pertaining to the Pirates' lineup.
They can hit. It never should have been doubted that they would.
I was writing that all through the offseason, all through the salary-dump cacophony and season-ticket cancellations, and I did so because the data powerfully supported that a lineup with Josh Harrison, Starling Marte, Gregory Polanco, Josh Bell, Francisco Cervelli and Jordy Mercer wasn't going to suddenly stink. Especially once augmented with a reasonably reliable bat in Corey Dickerson. Add to that the promising potential of Colin Moran, plus a bench with Adam Frazier, David Freese and Sean Rodriguez.
As J-Hay spoke, with flair approaching Hurdle's, "Oh, we'll hit. We'll hit all day long."
That last word clearly is critical to the conversation.
I've been covering Major League Baseball for more than a dozen years, and I've never heard a group make more references to 'long,' 'longer' and 'length' to describe an offense. It isn't just the manager, though it surely emanates there. No fewer than a half-dozen players have used some variation of those terms with me in the past week, even in casual conversation.
"It's 1 through 8 and, really, I'd argue it's 1 through 12 if you include our bench," Rodriguez was telling me. "I'm not sure that's something you see too much of around the game. We're all trusting each other. We're all supporting each other. We're all expecting the other to do well. It's fun to be part of."
Bell might have put it best when I brought it up: "The effect I see right now is that, when any of us is at the plate, we're all at the dugout railing to watch."
Nice.
It's been fun, and there might be more fun ahead, at least offensively. Prefacing with all the requisite asterisks that the Tigers are terrible and that Lance Lynn is a train wreck at PNC Park, the Pirates' .266/.355/.441 slash ranks seventh in the majors with a .796 OPS through the opening week. Better yet, three guys who absolutely, positively must perform at their respective peaks have done so: Polanco's astronomical 1.425 OPS is assuring he's no longer seeing hittable pitches. Bell's got a .438 average with his pop still to come. And Marte's got a home run out of his four hits and -- wow! -- three walks!
I couldn't help but mention to Marte after the third of those that this was what I'd predicted as his season total.
"No," he'd reply with a grin and shake of the head. "More walks."
Please.
These Pirates are far from perfect. And there's ample room for skepticism that they'll upgrade year-over-year against a lineup that had Andrew McCutchen, even if that collective wound up 28th in the majors with a meager .704 OPS that was dragged down by a dearth of power. But the fact that it's already a bona fide talking point is telling in and of itself.
• Bear in mind that the Pirates' primary year-over-year acquisitions, if you will, are Polanco and Marte. It can't be stressed enough how much both let the team down last summer, albeit in very different ways.
• None of the above matters, not a syllable of it, without a dramatic upgrade in middle relief. And imagine the shame if this group can hit competitively, then finds a couple surprises in the starting rotation, only to be undone by not having seriously pursued the cheapest commodity in the industry.
Cue your regular reminder of the Pirates' free-agency spending this offseason: $0.
• It's raining, a little cold and windy as I type this, and the feels-like temp for first pitch tonight against the Twins will be 26 degrees. If the computers in New York can't spit out a schedule that has more early-April games played in warmer climes or domed stadiums, then smarter computers are needed. Because all of this, including the three-day debacle in Detroit, is eminently avoidable.
• Speaking of cold in April, Cutch is off to a 2-for-20 start in San Francisco. It'll be hilarious to watch some other city senselessly panic over that. We know how it'll turn out.
• This is a problem:
The Penguins have to win Thursday in Columbus, then again the next night against Ottawa, to secure home ice for the first round of Stanley Cup playoffs. There isn't another realistic path, certainly not after the Blue Jackets overcame a three-goal deficit to beat the Red Wings, 5-4, in overtime on a Pierre-Luc Dubois goal.
The Blue Jackets, in addition to all the mojo that accompanies overcoming three-goal deficits now three times in their past four games, are on a 13-1-1 roll. All that promise that's been building there for years, always unrealized, might be shaping up at the perfect point.
What's more, the Blue Jackets' regular-season finale will be Saturday at Nashville. That should be ideal from the Penguins' perspective, as the Predators own the NHL's best record, but Peter Laviolette's been resting his regulars NBA-style to prepare for the playoffs, so it remains to be seen if he'll put out a full lineup. Maybe he will given that it's the final tuneup but, even if he does, the Predators will still be playing for nothing.
Again, the Penguins need to win both.
• Or do they?
Given a choice between clinching home ice for one round and having a healthy, energetic Phil Kessel ready for the playoffs, I'll take the latter 100 times over. This has zero chance of happening, but Kessel probably shouldn't play in either of these games, instead healing up for the games that matter most.
Great as he's been all season, he's slowed a lot of late. This isn't just about the puck strike that nearly kept him from playing Sunday against the Capitals. He's been hunched over, heading to the locker room early, cringing for ... what, a month now?
It's worthy of respect that the ironman streak of 689 games matters as much as it does to Kessel. It's the third-longest active streak in the NHL, a genuine point of pride. But neither that nor home ice matches up to Phil flying around by next week.
• Matt Hunwick's played three games in a row over Chad Ruhwedel, beginning with when Mike Sullivan was disgusted with the whole group's performance. OK, punishment's over. Return Ruhwedel and let him get fully acclimated for the biggest games of his career.
• Connor McDavid's now running off with the scoring race, 103 points to Nikita Kucherov's 98, but he's got as much of a claim to the Hart Trophy as Tom Kuhnhackl. The kid's fabulous, but the Oilers are miles out of the playoffs, and his surge came in completely meaningless hockey. The MVP in the NHL goes to the player "judged to be most valuable to his team." Kucherov's been the best player on a superb team.
• This is a repeat: No broader threat to a three-peat looms larger than the Bolts. My goodness.
• The Steelers' OTAs start April 16, just a dozen days from now. The NFL plays only 16 games in the regular season, but these guys hardly ever leave town, hardly ever stop with collective, supervised workouts. Never wonder why they see every single Sunday as larger than life.
• Am I the only one who saw the Steelers bringing back Stevan Ridley and immediately thought James Conner won't be close to ready for Latrobe?
If that's the case and if Le'Veon Bell stays away, that's going to be a real letdown for the offense in camp to be limited to Ridley and Fitz Toussaint. Never mind if that's the duo entering the regular season.
• Over-under on the crowd size at first pitch tonight at PNC?
With a strange 6:05 p.m. start, I'll open the bidding at around 2,500.