PIRATES

In observing what's led to the Pirates' early offensive success, Ben Cherington said he sees a group of guys that have "connected." He's seen a higher compete level and some resiliency within a deeper lineup that has produced the seventh-best team average (.248), third-best on-base percentage (.336) and fifth-most runs scored (213) among teams in Major League Baseball. 

"I think it's less reliant on one or two guys, and yet still I don't believe we've fully hit our top speed either," Cherington said this morning here at PNC Park. "There's more in there. But encouraging just to see that group, that position player group, how connected they seem to be and how much they like to fight together and bounce back after a tough one. Encouraged and we'll keep working at it."

While there has certainly been improvement a year after fielding one of baseball's worst-ranked lineups, the bullpen has had separate issues. That unit has allowed the 10th-most runs (92) and walked the eighth-most batters (79) among MLB bullpens. The Pirates have played well during this 23-20 start to the season, but there have been wins left on the table due to the struggles of arms within that bullpen. 

"The left-hand side of the bullpen has been pretty consistent and the right-hand side hasn't been as consistent, particularly the last two to three weeks, struggled a little bit on that, the right-hand side of the bullpen," Cherington said. "I think that's an area that we know needs to improve going forward for us to win at the level we need to. Believe in the guys in that group. I believe the guys in that group are capable of just performing more consistently and better than we've seen the last two to three weeks and there's no shortage of effort or accountability. They're working on things. There's a plan for all of them, but we know that to be the team we want to be, we've got go get more consistent performance out of that bullpen."