For years, the conversations around the Pirates' goals were, frankly, too vague to get all too excited. "Get better every day," "competition" and "teaching moments" were common phrases that are fine on paper and as long-term projections, but didn't inspire much hope for the short term.
Entering 2023, the expectation became to start winning games, something a young clubhouse took to heart. And following the 2-1 victory over the Cardinals at PNC Park Sunday, it was Carlos Santana who finally took it a step further.
"We play for the playoffs every day," Santana would tell me.
It might not quite be the first time a player has said that word in that clubhouse, but it doesn't feel quite like something that's not going to take years and instead something that is coming sooner rather than later, if not potentially 2023. A weekend sweep of the Cardinals, the usual toast of the National League Central, certainly adds validity to that aspiration.
"Our first goal of the season is to win the division, then make a playoff run," Austin Hedges said. "Coming into the year, everyone knew how good the Cardinals were gonna be. That’s a good team over there, regardless of their record. To win three in a row against any team is tough, but against them it’s real sweet."
It continues. In a recent conversation about his rehab plans, JT Brubaker confessed that he hoped the recovery schedule worked out that he could stay in Pittsburgh in late September and early October rather than go down to Pirate City in Bradenton, Fla. during what could be a September stretch run. During the team's last road trip in San Francisco, Andrew McCutchen opined that the team's May swoon was probably for the best, because, "Would you rather have those struggles in May, or would you rather have those struggles in September, when you’re trying to push for a playoff spot?"
"It's good to have those aspirations, that goal," David Bednar was telling me. "It's more of a day-to-day focus, but if there has to be a goal at the end, it's obviously the goal. It's something we haven't done in quite some time... At the end of the day, that's where we want to be. Make some noise."
Bednar got the save in every game in the series, the first time he had been tasked with going for a save for three consecutive days. His final pitch, a 97-mph fastball up to Andrew Knizner, was an exclamation mark to a full weekend of pitching:
"It was a good way to end the game," Bednar said.
Having a reliever go three days in a row was uncharted territory for Derek Shelton, too, especially since Bednar came into the manager's office Sunday morning before he even threw on the field to say that he was good to pitch again.
Most of the bullpen, including setup man Colin Holderman, was unavailable for the 11:35 a.m. game Sunday after the group covered 12 innings this series and seven on Saturday alone. Bednar wanted to make clear that if his team had a chance for a sweep, he was ready.
"But then Oscar [Marin] and Mecc [bullpen coach Justin Meccage] watched him throw," Shelton said about the decision making process. "They were convicted on it. The fact that we didn’t play a night game yesterday; we played an actual mid-day game and just the way he takes care of himself [made it possible]."
If that isn't a playoff mindset from a closer, what is?
Rich Hill made it possible for Bednar to even get that chance. The Pirates collected 10 hits Sunday, but Hedges had the lone extra-base hit, a fourth-inning double. Their offensive output was limited to just a Ji Hwan Bae bases-loaded single in the first, but Hill made it work by going 6 2/3 innings with just a Knizner solo shot on his ledger.
In San Francisco, Hill had taken accountability after he was hit hard in a start that briefly dropped the Pirates below .500. He rebounded by being the reason their winning streak is now at five.
"We know we have a very good team," Hill said. "We've had meetings in here and we talk about it and reinforce it and just continue to go out there and give that effort every single night and understand that we continue to put in the work, it'll start the show every night on the field."
It's amazing how quickly things can change. The Pirates went from 20-8 to 26-27 in just one month's time after a dreadful May, but a perfect through the rotation again put them a half-game behind the Brewers for first place in the National League Central.
They are, undoubtedly, young and volatile. But they're also 31-27 in a year where it might just take being a handful of games over .500 to make the playoffs, if not win the division.
"You can go up and down, up and down," Santana said. "In May, we didn't play good baseball, but we're thinking about now, and we're playing good."
May was a bad month, and if it would be possible for the Pirates to get a redo on it, these playoff goals would almost surely be more prevelant. The focus is on the future, except that for once, that can be measured in days and months rather than years.
"We have to keep it up, that mentality, in my experience," Santana said. "I know it's a long season... but now, we're playing very good baseball."
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Live file
• Standings
• Statistics
• Schedule
• Scoreboard
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE INJURIES
• 15-day injured list: RHP Vince Velasquez (elbow)
• 60-day injured list: 1B Ji-Man Choi (Achilles), RHP Wil Crowe (shoulder), RHP JT Brubaker (elbow), SS Oneil Cruz (ankle), LHP Jarlin Garcia (elbow), RHP Max Kranick (elbow)
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
1. Tucupita Marcano, SS
2. Bryan Reynolds, DH
3. Jack Suwinski, LF
4. Carlos Santana, 1B
5. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
6. Ji Hwan Bae, CF
7. Rodolfo Castro, 2B
8. Josh Palacios, RF
9. Austin Hedges, C
And for Oli Marmol's Cardinals:
1. Tommy Edman, CF
2. Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
3. Nolan Gorman, 2B
4. Nolan Arenado, 3B
5. Juan Yepez, RF
6. Paul DeJong, SS
7. Luken Baker, DH
8. Jordan Walker, LF
9. Andrew Knizner, C
THE SCHEDULE
The Athletics are coming to town for a three-game series starting Monday. Johan Oviedo (3-4, 4.50) will start game one against JP Sears (0-3, 4.37). First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. I'll have you covered.
THE MULTIMEDIA
THE CONTENT
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