Great Scot: Future is now for Pittsburgh Pirates

By now, I’m sure that everyone has read how the Pittsburgh Pirates’ future started this season, how it started when they stood their ground at the deadline, how it starts today.

Every new significant piece of anything the Pirates do lately is the new big step towards a championship. While the future is definitely bright for the Buccos, we have to remember how easily it could all come crashing back down as well.

There is an over 95 percent probability the Pirates make the postseason this year, whether it be as the National League Central winner or in the Wild Card round. I’m sure that everyone is rooting for the NL Central Crown as well you should be but keep in mind the Pirates need to keep their sense or urgency and their hunger and not be satisfied with where they are today. A three-game lead over the Cardinals could easily disappear as early as Thursday, but they could also widen the gap by the same date and really make a push towards something special.

It’s difficult for any Pirates fan to suggest they are the favorite to go to the World Series. It almost doesn’t sound right, does it? The 2013 world champion Pittsburgh Pirates! It’s odd because there is an entire generation born and through college that has not seen the Pirates win anything, let alone the biggest prize in Major League Baseball.

Aug 3, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Neal Huntington on the field before the Pirates host the Colorado Rockies at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Tuesday marks another date in the Pirates’ hope for a championship when they will officially call up right fielder Andrew Lambo. If you are on Twitter, the news has been running rampant ever since the announcement was made. It’s amazing how “the next great thing” happens, everyone is buzzing about it, everyone is excited about it but remember, it can also be a huge disappointment and forgotten within a couple of weeks.

I am very excited for Lambo to come up; he absolutely deserves the chance in Pittsburgh. He may no longer be a true prospect but this is a guy who used to be one. He’s only 25 years old and as they say, sometimes something just clicks and everything becomes a bit easier.

Maybe this is what happened with Lambo, maybe he’s finally figured out how to recognize pitches a little better, maybe he’s just going up there looking for his pitch and swinging as hard as he can. If that was the case though, his statistics might be more in line to Pedro Alvarez’s numbers than his own.

Pedro is currently hitting .236 with a .296 on base percentage, .482 slugging percentage and a .779 OPS. He has 28 HRs, 75 RBIs but also 138 Ks. What these numbers tell me is Pedro is doing nothing but swinging for the fences; it also suggests that he is guessing a lot. Pedro hasn’t been able to recognize pitches for long stretches but there are times when he is seeing the ball very well and that’s when his average climbs. However, Pedro also goes on huge cold streaks and that is due to the guessing.

Taking a look at Andrew Lambo’s numbers from Double-A and Triple-A combined, he is hitting .284 with a .351 on base percentage, .559 slugging percentage and a .901 OPS. He has had 31 HRs, 97 RBIs and 123 Ks. These numbers suggest that he does try to hit homers a lot and he does strike out quite a bit too.

However, his average and on base percentage suggests that he can also recognize pitches and make contact in big situations. Lambo only has three more HRs than Pedro but he has 24 more RBIs. If he can translate those numbers to the big leagues, the Pirates have a very solid power hitter who could get moved to first base as early as next year when Gregory Polanco gets ready to come up.

Does the Pirates’ future start today? The answer in short is no, it doesn’t start today, it started several years ago when Neal Huntington and Frank Coonelly were brought to Pittsburgh with a mission.

Even though there has been plenty of down years with them, the fruits of their labor are being enjoyed now. The future is now, the future is tomorrow, the future is next season. Let’s hope the Pirates can go for another 20 years with the future being great.