Harr: Pirates excite city’s baseball fans for second straight summer

The Pittsburgh Pirates have found their swagger during the summer months for the second consecutive season.

Last year held the same storyline for the Pirates — a gritty team playing first-place baseball late into July, shocking the baseball world in the process.

But last summer, the Pirates dramatically fell back to where they have finished the past 20 seasons: the bottom of the National League standings, lugging a rather embarrassing and painful losing record.

Pittsburgh fans already know — and I’m sure fans around all of baseball are becoming aware — of the significance behind 1992, the last season the Pirates had a winning record.

Say what you will about the “Battlin’ Buccos” of 2012, but Pirate fans are hoping and praying the phrase “This will be our year” holds true until game 162.

There may be a lot of baseball still left to play, but there are several reasons why this team could realize the impossible.

For one, starters James McDonald and A.J. Burnett continue to one-up each other, trying to be the best fit for ace of the rotation.

Both have All-Star-caliber stats thus far — McDonald is 9-3 with a 2.59 earned run average, while Burnett is 10-3 and has an ERA of 3.78, yet neither one made the Midsummer Classics this year in Kansas City.

Burnett, 35, has given up three runs or fewer in 13 of his first 16 starts, and the New York Yankees are still kicking themselves for trading the veteran pitcher to the Pirates for virtually nothing. And McDonald, 27, another product of a trade, has blossomed into one of the best young pitchers in baseball this season.

Maybe the snubbing of the pair from this year’s All-Star Game will actually benefit the Pirates — the two can use the experience as ammunition to do even better when it comes down to the last few weeks of the season in September.

As for the Buccos’ bullpen, it has also been surprisingly consistent statistically, posting one of the top-five relief ERAs in baseball.

It’s hard for a team to have confidence in an entire bullpen, but between relief pitchers Brad Lincoln, Jared Hughes, Tony Watson, Juan Cruz, Jason Grilli and closer Joel Hanrahan, confidence is nowhere near lacking.

Not only do their statistics show how well they have been doing — the bullpen currently has an overall 2.73 ERA, behind only the Cincinnati Reds — but the Pirates pitchers are also fun to watch.

Hughes’ stiff and rigid personality mixed with his drawn-out gait is nothing short of entertaining. The 26-year-old rookie right-hander from Long Beach State has pitched the most innings of anyone from the bullpen, and his ability to mix up pitches is scary for someone his age.

Hanrahan is still one of the best in the majors at closing a game, ranking fifth in baseball with 23 saves at the All-Star break.

With the team in contention thanks to tremendously consistent pitching and improved hitting, general manager Neal Huntington must decide by the July 31 trade deadline if he wants to trade his dominant closer for a bat, trade prospects for another arm or hitter, or stick with the current group of overachieving Pirates that have the team in first place.

Hanrahan’s trade value will never be better than it currently is — the closer just played in his second consecutive All-Star game.

This offense, which was putrid in April and May before awakening in June and early July, still needs help, and the talent that Hanrahan could bring to Pittsburgh in a trade could make the difference toward the Pirates evolving into a winning or possibly even a playoff team.

The strong showing during the first half of the season by the bullpen is proof that others can rise to the occasion and fill Hanrahan’s role if he is traded.

The first possible replacement would be veteran Grilli, a man whose career has been reborn since joining the Pirates last summer. Closers are known to have high strikeout rates, and Grilli’s is currently at an incredible 14.09 per nine innings pitched.

If Huntington is able to deal Hanrahan for proven offensive bulk, then there’s no doubt that Grilli should be given the opportunity to close games for the contending Pirates.

But maybe the Pirates’ recent offensive burst will convince Huntington to hold onto his star closer and stick with what he has as his team looks to end a two-decade-long losing streak.

April and May were a complete wash for the Pirates offensively. The lineup battled each pitcher thrown its way, but still wasn’t able to average more than three or four runs per game.

June was a much different story.

All-Star center fielder Andrew McCutchen and third baseman Pedro Alvarez led an offensive power surge as the team hit 39 home runs by the end of the month, tying the club record for the most in June.

The club’s record of 146 total runs scored sat atop the National League rankings in June, one less run than the team recorded in April and May combined.

McCutchen’s dominant June won him Player of the Month honors in the National League, as well. He hit eight doubles, two triples and seven home runs with a .370 average in 27 games.

Regardless of what Huntington decides to do at the crucial trade deadline, this season has been another tremendous ride for the Buccos and their fans.

Expect a few more bumps and bruises along the way, but don’t be too surprised if the Pirates stay on top for the remainder of the season.

Fans have heard it all before, but why not say it just one more time.

This has the potential to be “the year.”