Whither the Pirates?

Regular readers have not doubt noticed the absence of posts of late on our favorite baseball team, the Pittsburgh Pirates, and you can also probably understand why that has been the case.  The simple reason for this is that I've got nothin'.  No explanations, no theories, no solutions.

On May 27, with a victory over the Texas Rangers in Arlington, the Bucs record sat at 28-19.  That nine games over .500 number was their high water mark in the season, and things were looking bright.  In the twenty-six games since then, they have gone an incredible 6-20.  That's '62 Mets territory there.

My Kwick Komments on what is becoming a hot mess of a season....

• The pitching stinks.  I said at the outset of the season that starting pitching was my biggest concern for the team, and, man, has that been proved accurate.  And the bullpen has been even worse.
• Andrew McCutchen.  What is up with the season he is having? Is he hurt?  He's only 29 years old, so it can't be a case of eroding skills, can it?  Maybe it's just a case of a bad year.  It happens, and if anyone deserves a mulligan for a bad year, it's Andrew McCutchen, but it's been killing the Pirates this year.
• Neal Huntington.  The GM has more than proven his mettle over the last few seasons, but if Tyler Glasnow keeps throwing no-hitters in Indy while Liriano, Nicasio, and Neise keep serving up batting practice it's going to get harder and harder to listen to the he-needs-to-check-more-boxes b.s. from NH.
• Injuries.  Cole, Cervelli, Marte.  They have played a role in this slide, to be sure, and no matter how good a bench you have, it does hurt you when "the bench" has to become "the starters".

Hey, there is some talent on this team.  They are NOT the '62 Mets, regardless of the last twenty-six games, but something has to happen, and happen soon, or night after night of this....

...will soon be replaced by night after night of this....

It's happening already.