BleacherCoaches.com

It is early but the pirates are receving pretty good pitching and some timely hitting. Question of the year is can they continue this? They hold a comfortable one game lead in the N.L. central. Adam Laroche hasn't done a thing yet and if and when he gets going plus getting Sanchez back could make the pirates offensive one of the better ones they have had in years. Only time will tell but compared to the start they got off to last year they are looking decent early on. Can they be a contender this year?

A contender....no. But this will be the year that they aren't the basement dweller of the NL central, I'd say probably 3rd or 4th at the end of the year. As for LaRoache, they should just release him now. I never have and probably never will liked watching him play. Yeah he has power and bats from the left side, but so did Burnitz. And that's not the only thing the two of them have in common, they're both strike out kings. The Bucs would be better off just playing with an all right handed line up then giving up an out almost every time he steps up to the plate.

Laroche hit .285 last year with 32 home runs and he is still relatively young (27). Defensively he is supurb. Barring injury, he will hit at least 30 HR this year with the short porch in PNC. At least let him play the season out before you start making jeromy burnitz comparisons. As for striking out often.... most power hitters do, if they can offset the k's with 30-45 HR then you can live with the k's.

The Pirates could very well be in contention this year. The Cardinals won last year with only 83 wins and I believe this Pirates team can win at least 80 games. I like this lineup a lot with the exception of Duffy Im not sold on him at all. But Sanchez, Bay, Laroche, Nady, and Paulino can all get it done. I like this team a lot. I think Snell is the most underated pitcher in baseball, and our bullpen is lights out.

No depth, inexperienced pitching, no consistency...this all spells another sub .500 season in Pittsburgh.

The only saving grace is that this is probably the best team the Buccos have fielded in the past 10 years. If everyone plays up to their potential, and stays healthy, they could contend.

However, baseball is a marathon, not a sprint. The Pirates are ahead out of the blocks, but they fall back in the pack by the 50 meter mark.

Write that down.

i agree 100% with opinionguy.

They could contend, but i really don't see that happening. I really like what Jim Tracy is doing with the team, relying on young players, and I really like what's going on in their minor league system with McCutchen, Walker, Bullington, etc. I see them finishing as high as 4th in the NL Central, a step from where they were last year. The Cardinals are still the favorites in that division, even though they didn't show up against the Mets. Believe me, after a month or two, Dave Duncan will get that pitching staff working out and they'll be ahead of the division.