The Pittsburgh Pirates are 24-21 to start the season and everyone thought the pitching would be the true calling card for the Buccos, but it has been the offense stealing the show.
The Pirates offense is averaging five runs per game so far. That would be their highest runs per game since 1936 where they averaged 5.15 runs.
The Bucs have four players who have 25 plus RBIs Oneil Cruz, Ryan O’hearn, Brandon Lowe, and Bryan Reynolds. The only other team in the league with more is the Atlanta Braves with five.
As a team, the Bucs have 220 RBIs, which is third behind the Braves and the Washington Nationals.
They have a team batting average of .251, which is sixth in the league and the highest average in the NL Central. Pittsburgh has 393 hits, which is good for fourth in majors behind the Braves, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Houston Astros. The Pirates are also tied for fifth in the stolen bases with 44.
The offense has been a huge surprise to start the season. There was hope with the new additions like Lowe, O’Hearn and Marcell Ozuna that the power would be better, but I don’t think anyone was expecting this.
The Pirates are only tied for 14th in the league in home runs, but they make up for it with small ball and taking advantage of runners in scoring position.
Despite the 11-9 Friday night loss to the Philadelphia Phillies, the offense still showed out. Marcell Ozuna hit a monster 438ft 2 run home run. While Brandon Lowe had another multiple home run game, hitting one in the third inning then again in the fifth inning. Lowes 12 home runs leads the team with Oneil Cruz is second with 10 home runs.
The Pirates have been really fun to watch on the offensive side so far, but if they want to keep pace with the Cubs and the brewers in the division and make the playoffs the offense needs to be consistent for the whole season.
