BRADENTON, Fla. -- The Pirates, regardless of who is setting the odds, are considered a longshot to win the World Series this season. They are listed anywhere from 50-1 to 100-1.
However, Neal Huntington and Clint Hurdle made their team sound like even-money favorites Wednesday. Optimism always runs high on the first day of spring training and it was rampant following the first workout by pitchers and catchers on a cool and soggy morning at Pirate City that forced most everyone indoors.
Huntington said this season has the feeling of 2013.
Of course, 2013 was a watershed year for the franchise. Not only did the Pirates end a string of 20 consecutive losing seasons — the longest in major North American professional sports history — but made the postseason for the first time since 1992.
“This club has a feel that we can be a postseason team, that we can be a team that can advance deep in the postseason,” Huntington said. “Championship teams are based typically around starting pitching and you win the games you’re supposed to win because of your back end. Then you score.”
Those are big words considering that this season will mark 40 years since the Pirates last won a postseason series, rallying to beat the Baltimore Orioles in the 1979 World Series. They also haven’t won a division title since ’92.
The starting pitching is indeed the biggest reason for optimism, though, and the key to the Pirates contending in the difficult National League Central, as Dejan Kovacevic wrote in a column earlier this week.
The Pirates potentially have four frontline starters in Jameson Taillon, Chris Archer, Trevor Williams and Joe Musgrove. Management is confident a solid No. 5 will shake out of the spring competition between Steven Brault, Nick Kingham and Jordan Lyles.
The back end of the bullpen could indeed be dominant. All-Star closer Felipe Vazquez will be set up by Keone Kela, Kyle Crick and Richard Rodriguez. The losers of the fifth-starter competition could bolster middle relief.
The Pirates went 82-79 last season. That record exceeded expectations, especially after stars Andrew McCutchen and Gerrit Cole were traded less a month before the start of spring training without much coming back in return.
Though it was just the Pirates’ fourth winning record in the last 26 seasons, it was also good for just fourth place in the National League Central behind the Brewers, Cubs and Cardinals.
If the Pirates want to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2015, they will need to improve upon last season’s win total. One of the foremost baseball analytical websites doesn’t have much confidence in that happening.
Baseball Prospectus predicts an 81-81 finish. That would put the Pirates in a tie for third place with the Reds, behind the Brewers (88-74) and Cardinals (87-75), and ahead of the Cubs (80-82).
However, Hurdle is quick to point out that few outside the organization thought the Pirates could crack .500 last season.
“Maybe we overachieved but maybe we were under evaluated,” he said.
Hurdle would not say which one of the two he thought happened. However, he is also full of optimism about 2019, even though his team will enter the season with an estimated $73-million payroll, the second-lowest in the major leagues to the Rays’ $60 million.
“You see teams with small payrolls make the postseason,” Hurdle said. “It’s not uncommon.”
Hurdle also made his pitch for why the Pirates could join that list.
“This club right here, I really believe -- again, we’ve got to work to do and we’re going to go out and roll up our sleeves -- and our intent is to win our division,” Hurdle said. “If you win your division, that puts you in a pretty good place. I love the fact that there’s hunger in there and it’s real, for all the right reasons. And I really like our pitching. If you’ve got good pitching, you put yourself in a really good position.”
The Pirates did little in the offseason to inspire the fans, particularly after seeing season attendance fall by over 450,000 last year. The only additions were marginal players such as Lyles, shortstop Erik Gonzalez and right-fielder Lonnie Chisenhall.
Yet Archer is spreading the gospel of Huntington and Hurdle. He believes the Pirates will have more fans in the stands this season because they will be putting a compelling product on the field.
“I want to be in a position next year to force the fans to be there, contending for not just a playoff spot but to go super deep in the playoffs and play in the World Series,” Archer said. “I've heard Neal say this, and it's true: ‘What's the point in playing if you're not playing for a championship?’
“I know the outside perspective is that things have been a little slow, but if you look at all the pieces, they all complement our nucleus really well. I like the pieces that we added.”
Only time will tell if the pieces are enough to reach the postseason The Pirates have 7 ½ months between now and the Sept. 29 regular-season finale to find out.
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