Depth matters.

Ron Villone??? I had no idea this guy was still playing.

The Pittsburgh Pirates: 4th in the NL in runs scored. What the heck?? We're 11th in OBP and 13th in SLG. So I don't see it lasting. But it's fun for now. One game away from the coveted .500.

At the same time, our pitching has been just bad, worse than the players actually are, so that will actually improve. (We're last in the NL in ERA.)

So is there hope for avoiding tying the Phillies for most consecutive losing seasons in major North American professional sports?

No.

The reason is depth. In truth, the Pirates are often around 20-20 at this time in the season. But our starting pitching is stretched so thin already, and our bench has no one of significant talent. Right around June or July, we get some injuries or guys just get tired and in slumps and our team totally falls apart.

June and July are the months when many teams like the Pirates who are mirages (even mediocre-looking mirages) will fade into bad, bad baseball because they have no depth.

So I'm not getting too excited.