Cardinals, Pirates and Red Sox: 3 preseason predictions we wish we made

MLB prediction do-over: Pittsburgh Pirates win over 67.5 games

Who saw this start coming for the Pittsburgh Pirates? Outside of the steel city, not many, if any, but despite their recent seven-game losing streak, these Pirates are well on their way to eclipsing their preseason win projection and we’re still three weeks from Memorial Day.

Pittsburgh can beat you in different ways, something that could have been said in previous seasons. They can hit for power, and play small ball, their pitching has been good and their offense, which has struggled during their losing streak, has produced in clutch situations for the most part. They are neck-and-neck with the Milwaukee Brewers atop the National League Central standings as both teams have hit the skids. Their bullpen ERA is the third-best in the majors and if they can sustain that all season long, that’s a recipe for a lot of wins.

Their recent losing streak, which all teams are bound to go through during a long season, has been losses to two of the top two American League East powers, the Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays. Let’s not overlook their three-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox in the first week of April. At the time it looked like a sweep of the bottom feeder in the AL East, but not now with them climbing out of past place.

Are the Pirates a postseason team? Who knows, but it looks like it’s going to be a fun summer in Pittsburgh for their fans. Barring an unforeseen breakdown, they will easily go flying by their projected win total from the start of the season.