The Reynolds Contract and Twelve Key Games Upcoming for the Pirates

From the long term point of view, yesterday was a very good day for the Pittsburgh Pirates when it became known that the team and outfielder Brian Reynolds agreed to an eight year contract extension worth $106 million in guaranteed money.   It is the largest guaranteed contract for any Pittsburgh professional athlete in history, and it came from Bob Nutting and the Pirates.  By all accounts, this is a good deal for both sides (I'll spare all the nitty-gritty details; you can find such info elsewhere in the interwebs if you so desire), and it gives the fan base what we have all been screaming about for years: a sign that the Pirates are willing to finally pay to keep a key player.  

Time, of course, will tell if this turns out to be a good deal for the Pirates, but for today at least, we all need to give the team - and Bob Nutting - their due.  They've stepped up to the plate and delivered for once.  Will they continue to do so?

All that aside, five days ago I wrote about how surprisingly well the team had been in the opening weeks of the season. At the close of this past  weekend, the team's record was 16-7, the best in the National League.  Admittedly, save for three games against the Astros, the Pirates had faced weaker teams in the the League.  Last night, however they began an 18 game stretch wherein twelve of those games would be played against stronger teams with winning records: the Dodgers, Rays, Blue Jays, and Orioles.  It could be said that how the team fares in those twelve games will tell us a lot in how sustainable the Bucs' early success might be.  What would be considered a successful record for the Pirates in those twelve games?  What would convince you that maybe, possibly, perhaps the 2023 version of the Pirates are on the brink of something really good? 

On the theory that you should beat up on the bad teams and break even with the good teams (generally speaking, of course), then I would say that anywhere from 5-7 to 7-5 or better in this stretch would be considered a good run for the team.  4-8 or worse would certainly make one nervous, would it not?  This run began poorly last night when the Pirates blew a 7-2 lead and lost to the Dodgers, so let's hope that they can bounce back tonight and tomorrow.

Oh, and sandwiched among those twelve games are three games apiece against the Nationals and Rockies.  The Bucs swept Colorado in a three game series in Denver last week, and the Nats are well on their way to contending for the worst record in MLB this year, so it behooves the Pirates to take care of business in those six games as they battle against the Big Boys in the league over the next three weeks.