Déjà Oof: Pirates drop consecutive wild-card games in similar fashion

After picking up 186 wins over the past two regular seasons, the Pittsburgh Pirates have participated in just two postseason games. The Pirates were ousted from the playoffs again Wednesday, losing 4-0 to the Chicago Cubs.

The loss mirrored last season’s disappointing performance against the San Francisco Giants. Pittsburgh was shut out in both contests, notching just four hits in each game as well.

(Getty Images) Coming into both games, the Pirates had a strong offense according to the advanced stats. The team’s wRC+, a stat that measures a team’s overall offensive performance, ranked fourth in the league in 2014 with a 109 figure. They tied for ninth in that same category this season with a 99 wRC+. Once the playoffs hit, the Pirates’ bats went dead.

That’s not entirely fair, though. It’s worth noting that the Pirates ran into two impossible pitchers in both matchups. Madison Bumgarner tossed a complete-game shutout in 2014, notching 10 strikeouts against Pittsburgh. Everyone knew Bumgarner was an excellent pitcher, but no one could have predicted this was the start of a historic postseason run for the lefty.

Wednesday, they ran into the hottest pitcher on the planet. Coming into the game, Arrieta had posted a 0.41 ERA over his last 12 starts. His ridiculous second half has made him a strong contender for the Cy Young award, if not the favorite. In that sense, it was no surprise that he also threw a complete-game shutout. Arrieta slightly one-upped Bumgarner, however, picking up 11 strikeouts.

Having to face Bumgarner and Arrieta in one-game playoffs in back-to-back years doesn’t seem like a great reward after winning so many games during the regular season, but that’s the way the current system works. It’s entirely possible no team would have touched Bumgarner or Arrieta on those particular nights, though that won’t provide much relief to disappointed Pirates’ fans.

Now, the club heads into the offseason wondering what improvements can be made to advance further next season. With the St. Louis Cardinals still at the top, and the Cubs making a surge, winning the National League Central is going to be a lot more difficult in the coming years.

While Pittsburgh has put together some fantastic clubs, they lack the financial abilities of both St. Louis and Chicago. The Pirates had to reload quite a bit last offseason, picking up Francisco Cervelli on the cheap after Russell Martin left and bringing back A.J. Burnett on a small deal hoping he could recapture his old magic.

Burnett is set to retire, while Joakim Soria, Antonio Bastardo and J.A. Happ will become free agents. Those aren’t huge losses, and it’s possible the Pirates will be able to bring some of those guys back if they are willing to spend some cash.

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Still, the contention window for most major-league teams only lasts a few seasons. Though the Pirates have done nearly everything right the past couple years, remaining at the top becomes more difficult as time passes.

After losing in two straight wild-card games, it’s more important now, more than ever, for the Pirates to find a way to get over the hump in 2016.

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik

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