The No Hit Wonder and the 2022 Pittsburgh Pirates

Story by Yinzer Crazy Contributor Andre Curtis

We are definitely not bragging about it, but the Pirates beat the Reds 1-0 yesterday without recording a hit throughout the entire game. It was just the sixth time in MLB history that such a feat has occurred. The good ol’ Buccos are now 15-19 on the season, and somehow sit in third place in the NL Central. 

Yet, to say “they are worse than our record shows” would be severely underplaying it. If I were to best describe the Pittsburgh Pirates first month-ish of the season in a couple of words, there are several that come to mind. Off the top of my head comes “Fantastically Dull” or “Debacles...and Miracles” (depending on what your definition of “miracle” requires, of course.) The no-hit wonder yesterday was just another piece to the puzzle that this Pirates’ season has been so far. 

The truth is, when you go to see the Pittsburgh Pirates play baseball, you never know what you’re going to see. Of late, the Pirates lost two out of three to the Cincinnati Reds, who have the worst record in MLB. Then, the Bucs came right back and won a series against the Los Angeles Dodgers at PNC Park, and followed that up by splitting a series with the Reds again - while winning the last game without recording a single hit in the entire ballgame. Let me catch my breath. 

Before all of that, the Pirates had a historically bad loss in a game that finished 21-0 to the Chicago Cubs. Yet again, the Pirates got something out of it by winning the other 3 games in the series to take 3 of 4. How do you beat a team 21-0 and lose three more games to that same team? That’s baseball for you. Well, that’s Pittsburgh Pirates 2022 baseball for you. 

However awkward this season has gone so far, the Pirates sit only 4 games under .500, with a 4 game series against the 13-20 Cubs starting tonight. With the Pens getting knocked out of the playoffs last night, and the Steelers and Pitt football/basketball seasons too far away, the Pirates are the only game in town, and they are somehow hangin’ in there. I expect that there will be more fans coming to PNC Park now to cheer on the Buccos. 

Now I’m not asking you to be overly optimistic about this team, but they do have some fun pieces. The Pirates have several solid young players with the likes of Ke’bryan Hayes and Bryan Reynolds, as well as 250lb home run hitter Daniel Vogelbach, who I have personally nicknamed “The Hefty Lefty”. Some of the arms in the bullpen have been great too, like Pittsburgh born closer David Bednar, who walks out onto the field to “Renegade”, and left-handed pitcher Dillon Peters, who has been shutdown so far.

If there is one thing we can say for sure, it is that you just can’t predict what this team will do. There seems to be nothing too great for them to climb, and nothing easy enough for them to crush. Now, lets face it, the Pirates can’t keep winning improbable games like this for an entire 162 game season.

Or can they?