Breaking Down the Pittsburgh Pirates Updated 2020 Schedule
Let the excitement about baseball once again begin, as Major League Baseball came one step closer to restarting its 2020 season. The league announced the schedules for all 30 Major League clubs on Monday night kicking things off on July 23rd with the New York Yankees and the Washington Nationals and the Los Angeles Dodgers vs. The San Francisco Giants. The Pittsburgh Pirates will begin their season the very next day when they head to St. Louis to take on the Cardinals at 8:10 pm. It kicks off the 60 game sprint that will last from July 24th until September 27th, then the postseason begins with the three division champions and two wild cards from each division making the tournament.
The Pirates will play their normal NL Central rivals for 40 of those 60 games and will play the other 20 remaining games against opponents from the American League Central Division. It helps limit the Pirates travel and could end up benefitting the Pirates as they don't have to face teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers and the defending World Series Champion Washington Nationals. However, they still have to contend with the normal rival Cardinals, Brewers, Cubs, and Reds throughout the year. Let's take a look at how the schedule might play out as the Pirates try to make a run in a season that is going to be full of surprises.
The Pirates kick the year off with three games on the road against the St. Louis Cardinals July 24th through the 26th before returning home for their home opener against the Milwaukee Brewers on July 27th. Their first nine games are going to be crucial as they are all against NL Central opponents and the Pirates want to get off to a hot start. In a shortened season, every game counts more than ever before, and a three-game losing streak could end up making or breaking a team. Last season, the Pirates actually did get off to a good start going 13-14 through the end of April and finding themselves in the thick of things in the NL Central.
After that opening stretch against the NL Central, manager Derek Shelton will get to face his old team as the Pirates take on the Minnesota Twins. It will be a four-game home and road series with two games being played at Target Field and two being played at PNC Park. They follow that up with three against the Detroit Tigers on August 7th through August 9th for their first interleague stretch of the year. Interleague play has been good to the Pirates the last couple of seasons as they have had three consecutive seasons with a winning record against the junior circuit. The last time they played the AL Central in Interleague play was in 2018 and they dominated the division going 15-5 in those 20 interleague games.
They then return to the NL Central going on a six-game road trip to St. Louis and Cincinnati before facing their interleague rival Cleveland Indians August 18th through the 20th. The last time the Pirates played the Indians was also in that 2018 season and it was the Bucs who came out victorious. In the six match-ups between the two teams that season, the Pirates went 4-2, taking two out of three games in each series. A lot of things have changed for both teams since that 2018 season, so the 2020 matchup should be much more interesting with guys like Bryan Reynolds and Kevin Newman getting their first at-bats in the Indians rivalry.
The Pirates end the month of August with a heavy dose of the Milwaukee Brewers as they play the Brew Crew in seven of the final nine games of August. This run could be the one that makes the Pirates playoff contenders or playoff pretenders. The Pirates did not fare well against the Brewers last season, going just 4-15 in the two teams 19 matchups. The Pirates are currently on a six-game losing streak against the Brewers and can not afford a slump that late into the shortened season. After going through the Milwaukee stretch, the month of September begins with the Pirate's longest homestand of the season as they play an eight-game homestand against the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, and Chicago White Sox September 1st through the 9th.
The Pirates then take on the Kansas City Royals for the first time in 2020 on the road from September 11th through September 13th. It will be a homecoming for Jarrod Dyson, taking on the team he won a World Series with during the 2016 season. The Pirates then have another eight-game homestand at the end of September that could have big playoff implications whether the Pirates are fighting for a playoff spot or not. They will face the Cardinals and Cubs in back-to-back four-game series that will go a long way in helping to determine how the end of year standings in the NL Central are going to look.
The Pirates then wrap up the season against the Cleveland Indians from September 25th through September 27th as the Pirates end the year in interleague play. Some important dates to keep in mind throughout the season include the Field of Dreams Game (August 13th), Negro League Celebration (August 16th), Jackie Robinson Day (August 28th), and Roberto Clemente Day (September 9th). It all leads to the MLB playoffs which will run through the month of October with the World Series champions being named by the end of October. It is going to be a season of surprises for sure, but there are some things that both benefit and hurt the Pirates.
The toughest part of the season that I can see on paper is going to be the stretch at the end of August against Milwaukee. The Brewers have probably been one of the biggest hurdles in the NL Central for the Pirates with Miller Park being called the "House of Horrors" for Pittsburgh. Last season, they went just 4-15 against the Brewers and the all-time match-up record isn't that much better. Their first match-up came on August 29th, 1997 and the Pirates have gone 164-203 against them (.447 winning percentage). Prior to last season, it looked like things were turning around against the Brewers as the team went 32-25 against the Brew Crew from 2016 to 2018. However, last year's performance was not a good sign for the future of the matchup as the Pirates young guys couldn't get it done against the Brewers.
The good news for the Pirates is the fact that their interleague opponents will be the American League Central, a division the Pirates have had a lot of success against. As we said before the Pirates last played teams from the NL Central in 2018 and ended up going 15-5. Another performance like that against the Central would put the Pirates in a good position for a winning season in 2020. The Pirates have an all-time record of 107-109 against AL Central Opponents, however, a lot of those losses came in the early days to the Detroit Tigers. If you take the Tigers out of the mix, the Pirates record looks a lot better as they are 75-69 against everyone else.
The match-up I am most excited to see is both because of the rivalry the two cities have, and how similar the two teams look. The Pirates and Indians feature two teams with similar make-ups. Both teams have a main power threat and a couple of young players anchoring the lineup. For the Pirates, that power guy is Josh Bell while the Indians feature Designated Hitter Carlos Santana. The young guys looking to breakout are Bryan Reynolds for the Pirates and Oscar Mercardo for the Indians. All six games come at crucial times with the biggest series coming with the final three days of the regular season.
Taking a look at the schedule and how the Pirates have faired against the team they are playing, I am going to say that the Pirates finish the year 27-33 and end up just missing the playoffs. Their strong history against the AL Central gives me some optimism, and they could squeak out a few wins against the Reds, Cubs, Brewers, and Cardinals to make themselves competitive. However, I am too afraid of that seven-game stretch against the Brewers at the end of August to show too much confidence in the team making the playoffs. I could see the Pirates going 2-5 during that stretch and end up having to play catch up the rest of the season.
Still, as baseball begins to make it's way back, there is just a sense of excitement in the air that I haven't felt for the last couple of months. Win or lose, I will still love rooting for this team and getting back another sense of normalcy in these trying times. Hopefully, the world can work to slow down the spread of the Virus and we can have an exciting sprint to the finish in 2020. No matter what the circumstances surrounding the season may be, Buccos Cove will have you covered with all the latest news and rumors surrounding the team. As always, be sure to follow us on Facebook, Buccos Cove, and Twitter, @Buccos_Cove for all the exciting coverage this year.
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