Is Jason Grilli the key to the Pirates 'pen?

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It's one of the most surprising numbers associated with the Pirates bullpen this season. That's the K/9 rate of 35-year-old set-up man Jason Grilli, fourth best among all qualified relievers in MLB. His other numbers are pretty great, too: a 2.20 ERA, a 1.00 WHIP, a .180 BA against and a 4.41 K/BB ratio. He's been a 1.2 WAR player. By comparison, NL saves leader Joel Hanrahan has a WAR of 0.2.

There's no question Grilli has been a key cog in one of the National League's best bullpens. He has nailed down an 8th-inning role that was in flux for much of last season. The Pirates have lost only one game this season when leading after seven innings, a .984 winning percentage. There's a reason why fans clamor for Grilli to enter the game in any high-leverage situation. It's not a stretch to say he's the best set-up man in the league.

If the Pirates are going to make the playoffs, it's going to be on the back of their bullpen. Look at last night's game against the Cardinals, for example. If you get the game to the bullpen with a lead after six innings, the guys in the 'pen will take care of the rest. The Pirates trail only Cincinnati in terms of bullpen ERA this season. And the key to the pen, the stabilizing factor between the starters and the closer, has been Grilli.

Is Pedro Alvarez having a successful season?

Last night, Pedro Alvarez let loose his prodigious power with two monster home runs. The first was an opposite-field shot that cleared the Northside Notch in the deepest part of the park. Deciding that was not impressive enough, he followed it up with a herculean shot to right-center that went a stunning 469 feet. That mammoth blast was the longest home run by a Pirate in PNC Park history and, with it, Alvarez joined the 25-homer club for the first time in his young career.

Despite the fireworks, Pedro's season has been something of an enigma. It's not an understatement to say he's been one of the streakiest hitters in all of baseball. Alvarez was flat out of the gate only to get hot in mid-June. From there he went on an incredible tear until mid-July, when his production once again fell off a cliff. Recently, though he's been swinging the bat well and his 2-punch statement in an incredibly important game for the Pirates last night has been the pinnacle of his late-season resurgence. What are we to make of his overall season, then?

Well, a dream season for Pedro would be something like a .270 average and 35 homers. A  realistic breakout, then, might look something like a .250 season average and 25 homers. That, of course, is nearly identical to his current season totals. It's hard not to consider that a success. His overall line is .247/.327/.484 with 25 HR, 67 RBI and an impressive isolated power number of .237. The latter number is good for fifth in the National League. He's been a 3.0 WAR player this season according to Fangraphs. That's all fairly impressive and I'm sure the Pirates are happy with the overall production. Sure, the 31.8% K rate is a concern, but he's always going to strike out a lot. Pedro's value will always be judged by his power numbers and his run production and, for the most part, he's been strong in those areas this season. It's also true that the Pirates have played their best baseball when Pedro's been on, so hopefully this recent hot streak will translate into wins for the Bucs as they fight for their first playoff spot in 20 years.

Why are the Pirates so afraid of youth?

It's ironic that a team that has relied so heavily on the youth movement and home-grown talent would suddenly become allergic to rookies. After surprising rookie reliever Jared Hughes and his 48 appearances, the next highest total of any Pirates rookie this season is 30. That mark belongs to the long-forgotten Matt Hague. Sure the rookie position players haven't exactly inspired much confidence. The Bucs just haven't gotten much production out of the likes of Hague, Yamaico Navarro and Gorkys Hernandez. Still, Starling Marte showed real potential before landing on the DL. Plus, AAA is stocked with a bevy of arms ready to contribute at the Big League level.

Pitchers Jeff Locke, Justin Wilson and Kyle McPherson all had impressive, albeit brief, debuts, but they've been relegated mostly to fill-in duty for a game or two at a time. Indianapolis reliever Bryan Morris was called up for a day and didn't even get a sniff of game action. Instead, those major league bullpen spots have been filled by veteran journeymen like Juan Cruz and Chad Qualls. Likewise, the starting rotation has been clogged by Kevin Correia, Wandy Rodriguez and the recently-released Erik Bedard.

But Bedard's release presents a new opportunity to let the youth movement continue. As the veterans fade down the stretch, the opportunity is there for the Pirates to fill Bedard's spot with one of the more exciting AAA options. Wouldn't the rotation look better with a young lefty with hit-and-miss stuff like Jeff Locke than with another stretch of mediocrity by Correia. At the very least, call up Bryan Morris and let him fill a Brad Lincoln-type role if you're dead-set on putting Correia back in the rotation. It's time for this front office to stop thinking veterans are necessarily the solution when there are young, talented arms ready to contribute at Indy. Nothing against Hisanori Takahashi, but couldn't that bullpen role be filled just as easily with Justin Wilson? Their current strategy has them on the outside of the playoff race looking in. There's not much more to lose and a great deal to gain by seeing what kind of spark some of these young arms could provide.

Can Alex Dickerson stop the revolving door at first?

Today, we found out that Pirates farmhand Alex Dickerson was named the Florida State League Player of the Year. In his first full season, he hit .299/.358/.454 for the Bradenton Marauders with 12 HR and 88 RBI. He even added 12 SB for good measure.

Dickerson was the 2011 third round pick of the Pirates. He was considered a Top-50 draft talent, but fell to the third round due to concerns about his back. He has good power to all fields and projects as a potential 30-home run talent in the majors. He's got good plate patience and generally keeps strikeouts to a minimum. He played mostly in the outfield in college, but his lack of range and his injury history led the Pirates to move him to 1B. The former Big Ten Triple Crown winner is valued primarily for his bat, though. His award-winning season with Bradenton follows a nice showing in short-season ball in 2011. There, he managed a .313/.393/.493 line in 150 AB.

The Pirates have struggled to develop hitters of late, especially power hitters. Their revolving door at first base is well-known, too. The Pirates have penciled different names into their opening day lineup for four consecutive years. Since the departure of Adam LaRoche, we've seen the likes of Jeff Clement, Lyle Overbay, Garrett Jones, Steve Pearce, Derrek Lee, Matt Hague, Casey McGehee and Gaby Sanchez. There are a few promising first base prospects in the system (most notably Matt Curry and Jose Osuna), but none have the realistic potential of a guy like Dickerson. Hopefully, in a couple of years, the Pirates will be able to plug Dickerson's name into the lineup on a daily bases.

Are the PIrates a bad baserunning team?

It seems like every time I tune into the Pirates of late, somebody is making an out on the basepaths. In particular, speedsters Jose Tabata and Andrew McCutchen have been caught stealing with regularity and Garrett Jones has given a new face to the popular acronym TOOTBLAN (Thrown Out On Base Like A Nincompoop). But, what do the actual statistics tell us?

Well, it's a mixed bag really. Pittsburgh is really bad in the stolen base department. They are last in the NL in steals (56), first in caught stealing (43) and last in stolen base percentage (57%). They are also second in the league in being picked off when there's a stolen base opportunity (1.29%). They're pretty good at taking the extra base (43%), but last in the league in scoring from first on a double (21 times). Remarkably, they are the best in the league in outs on base (30), meaning they don't run into outs much aside from being picked off or caught stealing.

All in all, the Pirates are not as bad on the basepaths as I thought. They are woeful in the stolen base department, and that needs to change; but they aren't making a lot of careless outs beyond that. I feel like I've seen my share of them, but it's likely that the bad ones just stick out in my memory. Plus, you never think about baserunning when the players do what they're supposed to do. Beyond that, the Pirates are pretty good at taking the extra base, tied for fourth in the NL in fact. Hopefully, any missteps the Pirates have made lately are just drops in the bucket. Things better settle down soon, though, as the Pirates need to be firing on all cylinders if they're going to remain in the Wild Card race.

Why should you be happy about the Clement callup?

It's seems odd I would be so happy about this, doesn't it? After all, we're talking about Jeff Clement. The same Jeff Clement that crashed and burned as the Pirates starting first baseman back in 2010. The same Jeff Clement that struggled to stay above the Mendoza line and somehow managed only 12 RBI despite seven home runs. His OBP was .237; his OPS was .605. So, why on earth should I be happy about his call-up?

Well, a few reasons actually. First, he's been really good at AAA this year. He has 16 HR, 57 RBI and sports an .825 OPS. He's also been healthy all season, which is something you could not say at just about any other time in his career. He deserves a shot and could be nice left-handed power option off the bench.

And that's the second reason: he's a left-handed power hitter. Who is he replacing? A light-hitting, right-handed utility player with recent off-the-field problems. I'd much rather be giving Jeff Clement one more shot after he's worked his way back from injuries and disappointments than keeping a guy like Yamaico Navarro who's had no success at all at the major-league level this year and was arrested earlier this season for a DUI.

That brings me to my third and most important reason I love this seemingly insignificant move: it restores my faith in Neal Huntington. OK, so maybe that's a bit over the top; but after seriously bungling the bullpen situation in San Diego, Daniel McCutchen is back in the minors where he belongs and Huntington has now made a move which should improve the bench. Here's something you probably didn't know: until the Clement call-up, the Pirates did not have a left-handed hitter on the bench. None. If you consider Garrett Jones the starter at 1st and Travis Snider the starter in RF, then your bench consists of Gaby Sanchez, Michael McKenry, Josh Harrison, Jordy Mercer and, now, Jeff Clement. The move does lessen the team's defensive flexibility, but Jones can play OF, Harrison can play multiple positions and Mercer can play either middle-infield position. This team really needs to start hitting better and driving the ball and calling up Clement could really help.

Look, I know this move is not going to set the sports world on fire, but it's a shrewd move that should upgrade the Pirates bench. Many of us have been ragging on Huntington for his bullpen construction, so it's only right to applaud a move like this that should be a step toward putting the best 25 guys on the field.

Haven't we been here before?

Recently, Pirates fans have witnessed a 19-inning game, a Daniel McCutchen walkoff loss in extras and Andrew McCutchen go into a late-summer swoon. We've seen the starting pitching struggle, the bats fall silent and now the club is getting swept by bad teams. Sound familiar? It should. All of these things happened last year, too.

After being swept by the San Diego Padres, there was talk anew about whether this team actually had the staying power to compete for a playoff spot. Granted, the fall from grace last year was of epic proportions. A stretch of losing half that bad would be alarming. But even if this club doesn't falter as badly as that, it doesn't look good for their playoff chances. The latest Baseball Prospectus Playoff Odds Report has the Pirates playoff chances down to 27.8%. Their expected win percentage is down to .508.

Suddenly, the rhetoric from this club is changing. Rather than being sorely disappointed if they don't make the playoffs, there's already talk of being happy if they simply break the streak of 19-consecutive losing seasons. Expectations are changing quicker than a Justin Wilson big-league stint. John Perrotto recently asked Clint Hurdle if his team can still get to the postseason. Here was Hurdle's response:

"I have confidence in the men in our clubhouse," he said. "They've gotten this far and if you would have asked back in April if we would be happy with where we are now, the answer would have been yes."

Now, it's true that Hurdle's quote could be taken to mean the club is still fighting and that they are continuing to defy expectations, but this is coming from the mouth of the most over-the-top geyser of positive rhetoric in team history. Hurdle's primary function for this club has been as a motivator. There is rarely a hint of resignation in his voice. Until now. We can only hope that the players latch on to his more inspiring and helpful rhetoric from spring training:...finish.