Month by month

Here's how the Buccos did last season, month by month:

(key: terrible = about twice as many losses as wins. eh = just a couple games under .500. okay = right around .500)

April: terrible
May: eh
June: terrible
July: okay
August: eh
September: eh

So half of the season last year, the Pirates were really better than people thought; that is, they were particularly mediocre, getting two or three games further from .500 for each of the months of May, August and September.

Currently, the Pirates stand at 9-10 with five games remaining in April (one each against the Astros and Cubs and a series against the Reds).

It is critical that the Pirates take 3 out of 5 the rest of the month (or better) so that we can call them "okay" for the month of April. That way, they could already match last season's "okay month" count.

If the Pirates lose three or four of these last five games, they will end up 11-13 or 10-14, and will have had a textbook "eh" month. This would indicate to me that they are absolutely no better than last year.

The Pirates will hit better the rest of the season, but I doubt we will get these pitching gems almost every night like we are getting. So how the Pirates' complete April looks could be a great indicator of how good they actually are.