The Pittsburgh Pirates are mathematically still in the race for the National League wild card and have a chance to get there. Before we go any further, here’s a quick video from Wednesday’s game against the Texas Rangers for you to watch while you stop laughing.
Pirates have a path to the Wild Card (if only they would use it)
The Pirates entered Wednesday’s game eight games back of the final wild card spot, currently held by the Atlanta Braves. To overtake the Braves, the Pirates must first overtake the Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants and New York Mets.
Yes, it’s true that with Wednesday’s loss to Texas, the Pirates have now lost 15 of their last 19 games. It’s true that their hitters and bullpen are locked in a competition to see who can waste more good starting pitcher performances. However, they have a favorable schedule ahead of them, more favorable than most teams chasing them.
This is what the schedule looks like, starting with the games on Thursday
| Play against: | Brave | Mets | Giants | Boys | Cardinals | Red wines | Pirates |
| NL Wildcard Candidate |
4 |
6 |
3 |
9 |
10 |
20 |
17 |
| Other teams – Winning records |
18 |
20 |
27 |
9 |
20 |
12 |
12 |
| Other teams – losing records |
14 |
9 |
3 |
16 |
6 |
3 |
7 |
The Cubs have the easiest remaining schedule of all. They have home and away games against the Washington Nationals. There are three games each against the Miami Marlins, Colorado Rockies and Oakland Athletics. On the other hand, there are three games each against the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies. Only the Yankees series is at home.
The Reds have the most control over their own destiny, with 20 games against the other contenders. They have games against the Pirates (7), Mets (3), Braves (4), Cardinals (3) and Cubs (3). The Athletics, however, are a small part of their schedule. They host the Milwaukee Brewers and Houston Astros and have road games against the Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Guardians. They also have an inconvenient trip to Atlanta to play a make-up game. The Braves will be no slouch either.
The Pirates also have their fate partly in their own hands with games against the Reds (7), Cubs (6) and Cardinals (4). They also have difficult away games against the Guardians and Yankees. There are also home games against the Brewers and Kansas City Royals. With home games against the Marlins and Nationals, they have a great chance in the schedule.
Job offers
To pave their way to the Wild Card, the Pirates will need some help from competitors outside the NL Central Division. To some extent, they might get that help. The scheduling gods have been extremely unkind to the Giants. The rest of their schedule is brutal. They play home and away against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Brewers and San Diego Padres. There are also road games against the Seattle Mariners, Baltimore Orioles and Royals. The only respite is at home against Miami. They finish the season with a game against the Cardinals.
The Cardinals and Mets aren’t faring much better. The Redbirds have to travel to Minnesota, Yankee Stadium, and Milwaukee. They host the Padres, Mariners, and Guardians. Their games against losing teams are away games against the Rockies and Toronto Blue Jays. Coors Field can be a tough place to play.
The Mets have seven games remaining against the high-flying Phillies. They also have trips to San Diego, Arizona, Atlanta and Milwaukee. They host the Boston Red Sox, which won’t be easy. Easier times may be ahead for the Mets when they face the Nationals at home and the Blue Jays and Chicago White Sox on the road. They have a golden opportunity to defend the honor of the 1962 Mets by sweeping the White Sox and bringing the Chicago White Sox closer to their worst record ever.
The worst of all
The Braves also have a tough schedule, with the caveat that despite their injuries, they remain the strongest in the block among these potential wild card teams. Who they still have to play is almost irrelevant, but for the sake of completeness, they have some tough opponents ahead of them. They will have a home series against Philadelphia, where they will then have a four-game road trip. There is also a road series against the Twins and home series against the Dodgers and Royals. Some games should be no-brainers for them as well. The Braves play home and away against the Nationals. They also host Toronto and Colorado and travel to Miami.
The last word
None of that will mean anything to the Pirates if they don’t get their act together. Their hitters need to stop letting so many baserunners down, and the bullpen needs to stop breaking down late in close games. Do the Pirates really have a shot at the Wild Card? If the Pirates can do that, they’ll have their fate in their hands against three teams, and could get some help against the other teams. But they still don’t have much of a chance. The bookies are giving them a 0.4 percent chance of playing in the postseason. The prediction here is that the Braves will keep their last Wild Card spot. But the schedule gives the Pirates a glimmer of hope. Just a spark.
Photo credit: © Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
