Winning streak gives Pirates hope for 2nd half

PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Hope.

It’s the four-letter reason the Pirates four-game winning streak means so much. The word is not pulled out of the air by a reporter, rather it is from former Pirates first baseman, and now broadcaster, Kevin Young .

“At the end of the day, this is what you play for,” Young said on 93.7 The Fan. “Coming out of Spring Training I believe this team thought they were put together pretty well. You look at it, the ups and downs the inconsistences, the struggles at times. To find yourself at .500 at the All-Star break with some momentum and you have to admit having Paul Skenes in Pittsburgh has given a jolt of adrenaline to this team.”

Since Skenes was called up from AAA, the Pirates are 31-26 with no losing steak longer than two games. They are riding their first four-game winning streak and there is no doubt there is more attention on the Pirates now than at any point over at least the last nine seasons.

A team that has had one winning season since 2015, and that at 82 wins, is not only starting to show signs of improvement, but is winning games. The Bucs have won six of the last seven, and while sweeping the White Sox is nothing to brag about, they also split with the Mets and was the first team to win a series in Milwaukee in nearly three months.

No doubt about it as Young spun Lanny Frattare’s catch phrase, that the pitching is why they are here and why they haven’t lost more than three straight all season and no more than two in a row since Skenes arrival.

But Young, who hit 136 home runs as a Pirates player, said there are bright spots with the offense including a player many believe can be an All-Star.

“You continue to see the maturation process of Oneil Cruz and what he’s been able to do after missing an entire year and being able to come back and play a solid shortstop,” Young said. “Keeping the routine plays, routine and delivering offensively as well.”

“What happens when Ke’Bryan Hayes start swinging the bat? All of a sudden you have some more run production being delivered to your offense. You also have Rowdy Tellez finding a nice little stretch solidifying himself in the middle of the lineup. What can you say about Bryan Reynolds , he just continues to impress offense, defense and baserunning. A quick jolt of (Joshua) Palacios in the lineup and I can’t leave out Nick Gonzales because I’ve been mostly impressed with him with the run production and the defensive side at second base.”

“Those are the things that really stand out when you start getting on a roll and having the team getting comfortable in their positions. The lineups start looking more consistent.”

Hayes hadn’t found any consistency all year at the plate, but his hitting .300 in July. The 2015 first-round pick has three straight multi-hit games, five in the month. Simply put, Young, a former hitting instructor, said Hayes has found barrel awareness.

“I used to tease (young players) all the time saying ‘what do you hit with’?” Young said on 93.7 The Fan. “So many people give so many different answers, but at the end of the day, you hit with your barrel. You have eyes, legs, hands, you can say a lot of different things, but if you hit with the barrel at the Major League level on a consistent basis and always know where it is. There are a lot of things that take place where you use the barrel.

A lot of things are taking place for this Pirates team and Young believes the pieces are in place for it to continue for the next couple of months.