The start of the second half for the Pittsburgh Pirates has been far from ideal. For a team that was expected to be one of the better teams in Major League Baseball over the next month and a half, it's been very disappointing to see them play at this level.
The Pirates haven't been able to do anything on either side of the baseball, especially offensively.
Prior to Major League Baseball's trade deadline, the bigger focus for the Pirates was centered around their inability to get outs in the bullpen.
The Pirates worked on that by adding multiple relievers, but now there are questions about how they're going to use those arms. According to one writer, that's the biggest focus that Pittsburgh has to figure out this second half.
“Pittsburgh now has an almost embarrassing surplus of relief options, with Weaver, Yates, Bachar, Doval, Gregory Soto and Evan Sisk all fighting for high-leverage innings.
“That's a good problem to have, but it's still a problem, and Gregory Soto's recent shaky outings suggest he may be sliding out of the ninth-inning conversation entirely. The front office needs to clearly define its closer and setup roles now rather than letting matchups dictate everything on the fly, particularly with Doval and Weaver both having closer experience elsewhere,” Garrett Kerman wrote.
Personally, I would go with Luke Weaver closing games, given what he's done throughout his career as a closer.
Camilo Doval is also a decent option to get outs in situations, though he's also had some rough moments at times in the past.
Frankly, the Pirates at least have enough options to get them by in the second half this year. I'm a bit worried about some other factors that we haven't seen step up, especially the offense, but it is what it is for now.
As long as the bullpen can be decent and the offense can score runs, there's reason to believe things will turn. The only issue is that it is getting late early for Pittsburgh, so it could be without a playoff spot for other factors than the bullpen.
