Kovacevic: Are the Pirates, uh, underachieving?

So, anyone still watching? Hoping, even?

Well, let me add, in an admittedly weird way, to any optimism that might be accumulating regarding the 2021 Pittsburgh Baseball Club to date with the following: They might actually be under-achieving.

No, for real. Stay with me here.

See, these predetermined-to-be-pathetic Pirates, now winners of six of nine following a riveting 6-5, 10-inning rally Sunday in Milwaukee, are 7-9 overall, tied for 19th-best among Major League Baseball's 30 teams. More impressive, they split four games with the powerhouse Padres, then took two of three from the contending Brewers. And none of it felt fluky, either, with three of the winning margins coming by four-plus runs.

Now, nobody's putting up barricades on the Boulevard of the Allies for that. Nor should anyone bother pointing out they're 2.5 games out of first place and/or a wild card spot. 

But, if we're all being honest, that's not bad. In the most literal sense of the term. And I don't need to remind anyone that this team wasn't expected to be bad as much as it was expected to be abysmal. Even historically awful.

And, if we're all being really, really honest, it easily could get better.

Don't. Laugh. I'm. Not. Done.

The Pirates' current OPS -- on-base plus slugging percentage, the ultimate hitter stat -- is .696, 13th-best in the majors. This despite their 14 home runs ranking 24th. This despite having faced -- and beaten -- starters that include Kyle Hendricks, Blake Snell and Joe Musgrove. This despite Ke'Bryan Hayes having been out since the third game. This despite neither Gregory Polanco (.182) nor Kevin Newman (.179) hitting their respective weights. This despite the center field position producing a complete black hole offensively.

Anyone care to explain how that easily couldn't get better?

To make that argument, I'd think one would have to point to players who are currently out-performing their norms. And I'm not seeing much of that. Bryan Reynolds has been awesome with a slash line of .314/.397/.483, but that's little different than his rookie form from 2019. Maybe he just had an off-year. Colin Moran's come up all kinds of clutch within his line of .298/.385/.579, and that .964 OPS is nearly 200 points above his career figure, but the hitter I'm seeing looks more aligned with 2020 than anything that preceded it. Maybe he just needed to start more. Adam Frazier's at .305/.400/.458, and he's streaky enough that he could slip at anytime, but he's also been at this for about six weeks now if including his sizzling spring.

Whatever. One gets the picture. No individual's hitting out of his mind. And if a competent center fielder can be found -- or promoted, or moved from, oh, say, left to center -- that'll only add. As will Polanco and/or Newman either earning their respective ways or being replaced.

Doesn't seem so nuts now, right?

The pitching's not as clear-cut, though there are options here, too. 

The bullpen's been every bit as dynamic as I'd predicted from Bradenton, but it's a 40% functional rotation, with only JT Brubaker and Tyler Anderson doing their jobs. That can't and won't last. And I can state this with confidence, since I've seen some of the arms Ben Cherington's got in storage, notably that of Miguel Yajure, who's got the sweetest offspeed arsenal at any level of the system and really ought to be here already. (Not to be a jerk, but Yajure was in the running for the Yankees' rotation, and he can't bump Trevor Cahill?) Wil Crowe and Cody Ponce also could replace Cahill and/or Chad Kuhl, the latter having become a total toothpull to watch anymore.

There isn't gold in that pan, but the point here is improvement above what's already been seen. Eminently possible. Especially if that pen can stay healthy and fresh.

Still laughing? Not buying?

OK, never mind.

• Give it up for Derek Shelton. These guys were 1-6 and had just been embarrassed every which way in Cincinnati. That's where managers earn their paychecks, not in making calls to the bullpen. Everything I just discussed up there would've been mega-moot if not for his keeping things light yet focused.

When the Pirates won that first game at PNC Park, I'd asked Shelton how much it meant to get out of that rut, and his calm, smiling reply was, "DK, it's been one week."

He'll make an infinitely better manager than I ever would.

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Richard Rodriguez and Michael Perez meet at the mound after the Pirates' victory Sunday in Milwaukee.

• No team with a good bullpen will ever be bad, and that was the primary source of the 73-win total I'd predicted coming out of the spring. The Pirates' relievers have a cumulative 1.13 WHIP -- walks and hits per inning pitched, the ultimate relief stat -- that's fifth-best in the majors. Richard Rodriguez, David Bednar, Kyle Crick, Chris Stratton, Clay Holmes, Duane Underwood Jr. and even the Rule 5 kid Luis Oviedo have been outstanding. As they should be, with those arms and that stuff.

• If the Pirates ever do get around to trading all their players to the Yankees, those players will be making a move down in the standings. At least that'd be the case today: New York's 5-10 and has lost five in a row.

• As long as we're looking at the standings, the next series is in Detroit, where the Tigers are 6-10 and have a minus-28 run differential that's the ugliest in the majors.

• One scenario that should never be sustained throughout this season is older players hurting the cause. Revisit all that I wrote above, and it's mostly the older players being carried by the younger players. The transfusion's got to be total at some stage.

• What'll everyone's reaction be if/when Cherington starts moving some of these pieces?

He should, you know. That's how this is supposed to work. Build up the value, place the player on the shelf, and pluck away at the prospects.

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The Sabres' Sam Reinhart (23) is congratulated on his goal against Casey DeSmith Sunday in Buffalo, N.Y.

• A loss in Buffalo?

Oh, no!

Or ... oh, big whoop. The Sabres had been dragged down by a band of quitters, all of whom were dispersed in various directions by the NHL trade deadline. So, between that and a coaching change, they seemed bound to perform better, and they have: 6-3-3 in their past 12, all under soon-not-to-be-interim coach Don Granato. And they had players all along.

It's not ideal, but anyone who thought the Penguins would take all eight games from any team in the East was dreaming. That just isn't how professional sports work.

• That said, here come three at home against the Devils. So knock that off right this minute.

• For that matter, I find myself feeling big-whoop-like about a lot of these games of late, at least as related to the standings.

Really, other than hanging a banner for finishing first or securing home ice for finishing second, what's the remaining prize to be had?

A date with the fourth-place Bruins?

No thanks. They're 8-2-1 in their past 11, and they just swept two from the Islanders, then stuck it to the Capitals, 6-3, Sunday. Their defensemen are finally getting healthy, and Tuukka Rask is back now, as well.

Angling for the Capitals or Islanders?

Because ... why?

All the Penguins need to do the rest of the way is to keep playing smart systematically, keep getting better at limiting ugly chances against and, like the Bruins, get healthy.

• Jeff Carter's been a fine fit. Anyone looking for flaws right now is doing precisely that. He's skating hard and fast, he's standing tall at all points of the rink, he's using his size to create space for himself and others, and he's absolutely going to stick at center for the playoffs.

• The Penguins are off Monday, but it sure would be a welcome sight at some point early this week to have one or both of Evgeni Malkin and Kasperi Kapanen back at practice. The latter's closer to returning, per Ron Hextall, but even that'd be a start. The playoffs are roughly three weeks away, and the last thing this team needs is to be injecting everyone into the lineup en masse for Game 1.

• Want to see something ridiculous related to the NHL's current leading scorer?

How, how, how did that group not win more than two Cups?

• Tonight will mark the occasion of Patrick Marleau breaking Gordie Howe's NHL record by skating in his 1,768th regular-season game. And everything, just everything about this is so bogus. For one, Mr. Hockey in an era where seasons came with far fewer games. For another, he's amazingly held his mark since Nov. 26, 1961. And for yet another, he played yet another 419 games in the old World Hockey Association, a legit competitor to the NHL.

And that's to say nothing of Marleau sadly clinging to his career age 41, with only four goals to show for 44 games this season for the Sharks.

Call me a buzzkill, but yuck.

• Today would've marked the opening of OTAs for the Steelers on the South Side. Instead, they, like more than a dozen other NFL teams, have exercised their collective rights as players to opt out.

Which leaves me ... eh.

The way the 2020 season wound up, the way the roster's changed so much this offseason, the way so many of the team's key leaders -- chiefly Cam Heyward, the most vocal player on this issue -- are watching their window close, I wouldn't have been offended by precisely the opposite approach.

Let's not pretend this is about the virus, either. The players' own statement cited concerns of "infection and injury," and the latter's always been part and parcel of being a professional athlete. Citing it in this context is ... wow.

• DeMaurice Smith, the NFLPA's executive and the weakest union leader in all of sports, made the case in the past week that teams were quietly urging players to attend such workouts, to the extent that they didn't feel mandatory.

As Smith put it, "I think that what you're seeing now is for the first time players exercising their voice to say 'No.' And frankly it's probably one of the few times that coaches have ever heard players say 'No.' And for some players, it's probably the first time they've said 'No' to their coach."

He's right. And that's fair.

One problem: This guy's union is also the one that insanely permits teams to include bonus clauses in their contracts for attending such workouts. More than 200 are believed to have such clauses.

• Running back, running back, running back.

Also, and related ... running back.

• It doesn't take a detective's badge to determine the Steelers didn't want James Conner on the team in any role in 2021. They easily could've afforded the one-year, $1.75 million deal he took from the Cardinals, and he definitely would've accepted it to stay.

Translated: All the way up to Art Rooney II, management's looking for a near-total transfusion of the running game.

• If David DeCastro can't do a hard sell on the coaching staff that he's all-in for 2021, he needs to be traded. Don't laugh this off. Go watch his film from last season. He's capable of so, so much more than that, and the early injury goes only so far as an explanation.

Can't have 80% of an offensive line fully committed. Just can't.

• The Bills have informed their fans that their stadium absolutely, unequivocally will be filled for the 2021 season, and they're guaranteeing that the only way they can: No proof of vaccination, no entry.

Oh, you bet. I love it. Let's have the Pittsburgh teams do the same. And concert promoters. And for all shows and big gatherings. And everything, really.

Life's too short, man. We've already lost a year-plus -- and so much more -- to this terrible thing. Enough's enough.

• Have a magnificent Monday!