What has to happen for the Bucs to go .500

The Pirates were just talked about for upwards of thirty seconds on Baseball Tonight. That calls for Bucco blog post of the night #2.

Crucky and the gang praised the Pirates' young starting pitching. They seem convinced. Gorzelanny isn't going to end the season at a 1.33 ERA or anything, but I'm convinced too.

And the fact is, the offense will get better because it can't get worse.

That said, we are sitting at .500 after twelve games. As a loyal studier of the Pirates, I can tell you they will play a bit better over the course of the season than they have so far.

So will this be the season we cross the .500 barrier?

If I had to guess right now, I would give a solid "NO" answer. I stand by my 77 win prediction. BUT, it can happen, and it requires just one thing:

The Buccos MUST bust out of losing streaks before things get out of hand. If the Pirates can avoid having more than a couple 6+ game losing streaks, we will go .500.

I know that sounds simple, but check it. Last season the Pirates started on a 6-game losing streak. The month of April then ended with a 7-game losing streak. Then, from May 6 to June 14, they were 17-17. This was followed by a THIRTEEN GAME losing streak. After this, they played mostly .500 ball, except for an 8-game losing streak at the end of the season. These losing streaks were not complimented by comparative winning streaks.

Of course, the Pirates earned every one of those losses. But ending those streaks at four or five games could have gone a long way at steering the ship in the right direction.

With consistent pitching (which seems to be developing) and just a little timely hitting (which has to appear magically out of nowhere), the Pirates can go .500.