The Pittsburgh Pirates entered the season as the favorites…to finish last in the NL Central division.
After almost three weeks of play, however, they have been a joy to watch.
After beating the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night, their record ascended to 11-7.
Some of their pitchers are looking shockingly good: Johan Oviedo, Mitch Keller, and David Bednar have been the best.
Their offense has also been surprisingly decent.
Andrew McCutchen returned with a bang and has been the team’s most consistent player now that Bryan Reynolds cooled off some.
There is another hitter getting the attention, and deservingly so: Jack Suwinski.
Captain Jack is a whole vibe pic.twitter.com/xTsI9UkNhD
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) April 19, 2023
There, you have Suwinski and the now-famous Pirates home run celebration, holding a sword and pretending to be in combat.
Suwinksi isn’t exactly an unknown.
He already hit 19 home runs last year, but did it with a .202 batting average and a 30.6 percent strikeout rate.
In the early stages of the 2023 season, however, he appears to have taken a step forward.
He is now hitting .265 for the year, has trimmed that strikeout rate to 27.5 percent and had two home runs on Tuesday night against the Rockies, to reach four on the year.
His slugging percentage is a cool .647, and he, together with McCutchen, are making the Pirates look respectable.
Even without the injured Oneil Cruz, Pittsburgh has managed to maintain a positive record and a +8 run differential.
Could this last?
We don’t know, but the city itself is a whole vibe at the moment.
Pirates fans have been through enough, so they deserve to have some hope.
NEXT: The Pirates Had A Big Night At Coors Field