What a difference a week has made for the Pirates.

July 7 (or 7-7) is sometimes seen as a good luck date, but for the Bucs and their long-suffering fans, it felt like the day the 2024 campaign unofficially ended. Less than 48 hours after blowing out the Mets in the first of a four-game series–PNC Park was rocking that Friday night, thanks to seven home runs, including two by both Bryan Reynolds and Rowdy Tellez, and it was the rowdiest it had been in a long time (pun intended)–Pittsburgh dropped its second straight afternoon game to New York. What was especially gut-wrenching about the Sunday defeat was that Aroldis Chapman, the fill-in closer for the injured David Bednar, was one strike away from securing the second win of the series.

Instead, it was a loss. Instead of gaining more ground on New York, the Pirates fell further behind in the wildcard race.

To their credit, the Pirates won the final game of the series last Monday afternoon, but this had been their M.O. for a while. Win one, lose one. Win two, lose two. Pittsburgh came into the four-game weekend home series with a 41-45 mark and left for a six-game road trip with a 43-47 record.

Admit it, you were expecting the Pirates to lose at least two games at Milwaukee, right? Sure, they managed to take two of three–even while only scoring one run over the final two games–but come on, Pittsburgh was going to pull an Oakland A’s and get swept by the 27-68 White Sox to close out the first half of the 2024 schedule, no?

No.

The Pirates went into Chicago and looked like the superior team. They played like the superior team. Pittsburgh swept the White Sox into oblivion. The Buccos scored a combined 19 runs over the weekend while allowing only seven. It wasn’t massive domination, but it was very business-like, the kind of series you’d expect from a good, young team that’s coming of age.

What once was a 42-47 record after that depressing loss to the Mets on July 7 is now 48-48. The Pirates have won four straight games and six out of their last seven. They are currently the hottest team in the National League, and they get to enjoy that status during the four-day All-Star break. Most teams say they’d like to keep playing when they’re on a roll, but I believe this break is perfect. For one thing, phenom Paul Skenes will take the mound as the starting pitcher for the National League in the All-Star Game on Tuesday evening in Arlington, Texas. He’s the talk of baseball, and the hype will only get crazier if he makes Aaron Judge and a few other American League All-Stars look foolish and helpless during what figures to be a one-inning stint.

Also, the Pirates, who are now just one-and-a-half games out of the third wildcard spot in the National League and two games back of the second, get to be the darlings of the baseball media for a few days. The Pirates get to be the team that–say it with me–nobody will want to face in the postseason. Why? Their pitching, silly (or, their pitching is silly, as Grammarly is trying to get me to type). But the Pirates’ pitching is silly, and they have one of the silliest pitchers to come along in ages in Skenes.

Speaking of the baseball media, while it’s fawning over Skenes during the All-Star break and insisting that the Pirates are the team nobody will want to face in the playoffs, it may also put national pressure on owner Bob Nutting to get his players some help in the form of a veteran hitter or two. With the trade deadline coming up at the end of July, and with just 66 games remaining on the schedule, the time to make a move might be right now at this very moment.

Maybe the Pirates are currently ahead of internal projections, but so what? If Pittsburgh does go on to win a World Series during this window of contention that Skenes has rammed open, there likely won’t be another. What does it matter if the Pirates win now or in 2026? If they win this year, the organization will be playing with house money over the next few seasons before the window closes again.

The club can tell its fans, “Hey, at least we finally got you one World Series!” while selling yet another rebuild.

Perhaps I’m getting ahead of myself, but that’s what’s so fun about the Pirates getting hot right before the All-Star break.

It’s perfect for dreaming.