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Before the season started, who could have guessed that I, a Pittsburgh Pirates fan, would be worried that the Bucs might only make the MLB playoffs as a Wild Card team? Sure, it is a great problem to have. I would be fine with the Pirates getting one of the two NL Wild Card spots, but I hate how the Wild Card teams only get one guaranteed postseason game.
I see the Pirates as underdogs in almost any potential Wild Card scenario, to be honest. There are two reasons for this: they are young and they don’t have a legitimate ace.
Unlike teams like the St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds and Arizona Diamondbacks, all teams that are possible opponents in a Wild Card game, the Pirates have very few players on their roster with postseason experience. Also, the Cardinals and Reds each have legitimate aces in the front of their rotation, with Adam Wainwright and Johnny Cueto (though he is shelved at the moment).
I realize that A.J. Burnett and Francisco Liriano have both pitched like aces this season, but I just don’t know if I completely trust them like I probably should. Maybe it’s just “Pirates Fan Syndrome”, a condition that forces a fan to think negatively about the most positive things. 20 losing seasons will do that to some people.
The only players on the Pirates’ roster with playoff experience are Burnett, Liriano, Russell Martin, Clint Barmes and Wandy Rodriguez. Honestly, I am probably forgetting one or two players, but you get the point. I simply don’t want the first Pirates’ playoff experience of my lifetime to last only one game, and with the team currently having a four-game lead on the NL Central, I don’t think that’s too much to ask.
Zach Morrison is a Pittsburgh Pirates writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @Zach_Morrison1 or add him to your network on Google
