Where can I even begin? The Pirates have lashed out with a vengeance in four of these first six post-All Star Break games. It happened again tonight with a six run inning that was followed up by three two-run innings. Pedro Alvarez had three more hits and two more homers. Neil Walker had two more hits. Jose Tabata had two more hits. Lastings Milledge had two more hits. Delwyn Young is on fire. These last two nights against the Brewers have seen the Bucs string hit after hit together in a way that just a week ago I would’ve told you they weren’t even capable of.
I’ve been trying for a couple nights now to come up with the best word to describe these eruptions of offense, and about an hour after tonight’s game ended I settled on “cathartic.” It’s one thing to watch Pedro Alvarez crush college pitches into oblivion with a metal bat on YouTube and read about his tape-measure minor league shots and watch him take batting practice at spring training, but it’s another thing all together to watch him turn on an inside pitch and launch a laser-beam that rockets off the foul pole two-thirds of the way up for his fourth homer in two games. To watch Jose Tabata put up multiple hits for the sixth time in the last nine games. To watch Neil Walker and Lastings Milledge kill the ball in a way that I’d only hoped was possible just a couple months ago.
This last week hasn’t been a window into a certain future. It hasn’t clinched the Pirates anything in 2011 or 2012 or 2013. But it is a glimpse of what’s possible, of why I and so many others were excited about Pedro Alvarez, and of why this group of young players might be the start of something different in Pittsburgh. We’re still a long ways from anything that’s truly significant, but these last few days? These have been baby steps.
