Over a month into the 2019 campaign, the Pittsburgh Pirates have shown glimpses of greatness, but their front office continues to hold the team back.

The decision last season to trade top prospects Austin Meadows and Tyler Glasnow has shown to be a bad decision, to put it mildly. Although pitcher Chris Archer has been good for the Pirates, he cannot compare to the stellar performances from Glasnow and Meadows thus far.

Josh Bell has been a positive for the Pirates, batting .287 and hitting eight home runs. The Pirates have also shown potential with this young team, calling up shortstop Cole Tucker and center fielder Bryan Reynolds.

Reynolds has exceeded expectations, batting .405 in his first 12 games and totaling 15 hits. Tucker has shown his ability to play, but is showing the normal struggles of a call-up player, batting .208 over his first 14 games.

The team’s lackluster veterans have been underperforming, which has been a thorn in the team’s side thus far.

Right fielder Gregory Polanco has underperformed in his first 10 games back from injury and seems to be lost on the field. He has been hitting poorly and has made several mental errors in the field.

Former all-star Starling Marte has also been struggling, batting a measly .211 with 18 strikeouts.

The young talent of the team cannot keep up with the higher skilled, more experienced players from other teams that are willing to spend money to make the team better.

Bob Nutting, the owner of the Pirates, has decided to protect the bottom line by spending less money rather than putting a better product on the field, and by reaping the benefits of being a small-market team by receiving yearly checks from big-market teams such as the Dodgers.

Nutting repeatedly shows his cheap approach by avoiding big-name players in free agency, such as Manny Machado, whom the Pirates could have afforded and who would have helped the team.

Overall, it seems the Pirates send their young talent into sink-or-swim situations and do not provide the necessary assets to help the team win.

The season is young, and the team has done well excluding that eight-game losing streak early on. Only time will tell if the team gets over the hump this year, or falls back into mediocrity.