I know, I know. You read the title and say to yourself, “Is this guy f***ing serious? Does he even know who all plays in the MLB?”

Trust me, I am all too aware of who and what waits ahead of the Pirates in order to achieve this. The competition is fierce in their division alone. Outside of the NL Central are American League clubs who are equally as fearful, if not more so. It would be challenging at best for my goal to be achieved. However, allow me to spin you a narrative, one of which this team not only makes the postseason, and but battles their way to a World Series, thanks to the means of which I will lay out for you below.

Through one quarter of this long, arduous baseball season, the Pirates have already faced a multitude of hurdles (no pun intended). Pitchers have hit the IL or got hit badly themselves (starters and relievers alike), and pieced-together lineup continues to struggle for RBIs, let alone RISP opportunities.

The run differential of -46 at this point resembles something of their 2000–2009 clubs. Games are being lost by double digits at least once a week, serving as humbling crashes to earth. They are reminders to the often pessimistic fans that this club will not be experiencing the thrill of a postseason run any time soon.

Despite these blowouts, the bad run differential, the fact that players are being asked to step up to the big leagues sooner than the team would like, and the multitude of injuries that have plagued this club, the one and only stat that matters at the end of the day has offered hope to the fans of this team. Their overall record.

As of May 18, 2019, the Pirates sit at a record of 22–20, 1.5 GB a wildcard berth, and 4.0 GB in the division, chasing the Chicago Cubs (who have won 25 of their last 35 games after starting the season 1–6). Clinching a postseason berth, whether it be the daunting task of winning the brutal NL Central division or taking place in the unforgiving one game wildcard, is not an improbable task by any means.

We are now moving on with the rest of the 2019 season. Let’s fast forward to the 2019 All-Star Break. The Pirates are an extremely respectable 52–45, 3.0 GB the Brewers, and 2.0 GB the Cubs.

Josh Bell continues to rake. He leads the NL in RBI and is fifth in the NL in HR. He is starring in the Home Run Derby, despite concerns expressed from yinzers. He will look to have a better outcome than the last Pirates participant, Pedro Alvarez, who hit 6 home runs in the derby system.

Because he’s Josh Bell, he of course wins the Home Run Derby in exciting fashion, and now all eyes are officially on Bell and the Pirates, as he has officially placed them on the National Radar with his performance. Nervous gulp.

The trade deadline is approaching. The Pirates have scuttled out of the break, and their record is now 59–56. This slump has been brought to us no thanks to a six game losing streak by the hands of the Cubs and Cardinals, putting them 0.5 GB the Cardinals in the division at this time. However, a “splash” has been made, although it will be worth seeing if it will be large enough to send this team to the Postseason, let alone with the World Series.

Ke’Bryan Hayes has started to heat up in a major way, and fans are anxiously awaiting his call up. Instead, a couple of savvy trades are made. Left handed reliever Jace Fry has been acquired for a High A prospect from Baltimore, and a familiar face in Jordy Mercer has been acquired to assist at short and third. Jung Ho Kang never got it together in his first full season back, as his fielding and hitting both hurt the team more often than not. Cole Tucker and Kevin Newman have played about as well as you could ask to, with the latter sporting an average of .250. However, Mercer brings a veteran presence to the team, along with a solid glove and a more advanced bat than Tucker’s. This only further deepens the Pirates options in the starting lineup and off of the bench, with Tucker providing opportunities for pinch running when presented, an underrated element of his game.

With these acquisitions, the Pirates and its fanbase has found new life, the likes of which hasn’t been seen since their trades that were made to assist in their run in the 2013 season. The Pirates managed to play well enough to host the Wild Card game, with a final regular season record of 90–72 Who would they face in this game? A team that spent much of the early part of the season giving the Pirates fits — the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Low and behold, due to an absolute gem spun by Taillon, capped by a flawless one, two, three ninth from Vazquez, the Pirates win their first Wild Card game since 2013. The feeling is restored, the energy and the hype is real. No team wants to face Pittsburgh in the postseason. There is a team of destiny feel to the club that is unignorable.

Destiny would prevail. The Pirates would go on to shock the nation by eliminating the LA Dodgers, taking them to their first Pennant Series since 1992, a series loss which would ignite a streak of misery never seen in all of sports.

The team waiting to host the Pirates in game one of the NL Championship was none other than the Chicago Cubs. A team that seemed to win and lose in stride with the Buccos, never allowing them to clinch the division, despite the team’s marvelous play.

It wouldn’t be a great story to tell your kids about some day without some drama to unfold. The Pirates would go down 2–0 to the Cubs, losing in typical early season fashion in game two to the tune of 12–2. A certified shellacking. Had they really come this far, only to get swept by the division bully who has haunted them and stalled their success for the past seven years.

They would found themselves back into this series, clawing their way to a game seven after being down 3–1 at one point. The Pirates would take game seven without much contest from the Cubs. They sealed their fate early with a five run first inning, which allowed them to cruise their way to a pennant, winning seven to two. It was on to the World Series, to face the new Evil Empire, the Houston Astros.

This is where the optimism ends, and reality can’t help but bleed into this dream. The Houston Astros are so unfairly good. The offensive power they possess would win them most any seven game series without even needing Gerrit Cole or Justin Verlander. They have little to no weakness in their order, except for when they play at an NL park and can’t use a DH. That’s it. Dangerous lineup from the top to the bottom. And, like I’ve mentioned, they also have Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander.

The Pirates would take the series to five, albeit closely played games. They would go on to lose in the World Series by the hands of their former ace, Gerrit Cole. In some on the nose irony, it was the acquisitions made by the Pirates prior to the 2018 season in exchange for Cole, that would help take them this very game (Joe Musgrove, Colin Moran, Michael Feliz (however much you can argue he “helped”, and Jason Martin). The delusion I must have to imagine that something like this remotely possible. Just don’t pinch me come October and the Pirates are still battling, like they always do.

Final Thoughts -

When the staff is fully healthy, the rotation is one of the best in baseball. I don’t think a move will be made by the front office to acquire a starting pitcher and I can respect that. It’s not out of the question to expect great play from Taillon, Archer, Williams, Lyles, and Musgrove. I mean, just read back through that rotation and tell me upside doesn’t scream at you. The bullpen, however, is a much different story. Young players are being asked to step up, and in comparison to our bullpen performance, not being asked *too* much. With what was seen from DuRapau in the opening of Saturday’s game against the Padres, and the impressive movement seen from Hartlieb in the 9th of that same game, the potential looks quite promising. We will need a larger sample size from these guys to get an idea of their control. At any rate, they are improvements over the cast of arms not named Kela, Liriano, Crick or Vazquez. And with this bullpen looking like the most easily fixed weak link of this club, it shouldn’t be too hard to patch up via trade.

I don’t see the front office making any moves for bats if all players manage to stay healthy. It shouldn’t be necessary, and not worth sacrificing farm depth for a rental when the two teams standing in your way of making this a reality are the 2019 Dodgers and Astros.

My hopes are high, the going is tough, but I’ve seen enough out of this team to know that the will is there, and their own sights are likely to be set even higher than mine.