The Pirates lost to the Padres by a score of 6-0 in the first of a three-game series at PNC Park on Tuesday night.

The defeat drops Pittsburgh back down to .500 at 56-56. The Pirates are now four games out of the third wildcard spot in the National League and five behind San Diego, who currently owns the top wildcard seed.

Maybe this is just bad timing, but the Pirates have lost four of their last five and four of six since baseball’s trade deadline on July 30. Judging from that stretch, you might think that Pittsburgh predictably did nothing of note but trade off salary and make the roster worse. But, no, general manager Ben Cherington was lauded for his deadline moves–including the additions of reliever Jalen Beeks, outfielder Bryan De La Cruz and infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa.

So what gives? Maybe the Pirates just aren’t good enough. In fact, if you ask the fans and listen to the media, many are now sheepishly admitting that the Bucs might not have the roster to match the likes of San Diego, Atlanta, Arizona and even New York.

So why the never-ending and angst-ridden talk of the Bucs adding to the roster in the weeks leading up to the deadline last Tuesday? Number one, content. Radio shows need content. Blogs need content. Social media accounts need content. Number two, we all just wanted to believe Pittsburgh was ready. I was on the stump calling for Cherington and owner Bob Nutting to bring in talent that could help put the Pirates over the top. Number three, Paul Skenes. Not just him, but the entire starting pitching staff. How could you not help those studs out? We’re talking about a staff that–say it with me–nobody would want to face in a best-of-three postseason series. Number four, the race was just so close, and the Pirates were in it.

Yeah, about that last one. Perhaps that third wildcard had us all dreaming too big. Maybe it was a mirage. Fool’s gold. Whatever. Why do I say that? The Pirates dropped a heartbreaker to the Mets in early July to fall to 42-47. It looked like the season was quickly unraveling. However, Pittsburgh immediately got hot and went on its best stretch of the season, winning 13 of its next 18 games. Unfortunately, that streak got the Pirates no closer to a wildcard spot at 55-52 than they were at 42-47. That’s the problem when you add an extra playoff spot and organically put more teams in the mix. If one team gets hot, chances are, other teams will be hot at the same time.

It’s just so hard to make up ground.

Oh well.

The Pirates now have exactly 50 games remaining in the 2024 campaign. You might say they’re at a crossroads, but it feels like they’re about to collapse like they did in 2011 and 2012. I sure hope it’s a collapse on par with 2012. After all, things got so much better after that.

I will say this: The Pirates are better on paper thanks to the moves Cherington made at the trade deadline. But maybe they’ll have to wait until next year for those moves to make them better on the baseball diamond.