3 Things Pirates Must Do to Make Playoffs

Go 14-4 or Better

At the moment, Pittsburgh is 5 1/2 games back of the final Wild Card spot in the National League, which is occupied by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The San Diego Padres are just a half-game behind Arizona, though, further complicating things for the Pirates considering they're tasked with making up a huge deficit on two clubs instead of one.

With their playoff odds currently sitting at 0.8 percent according to FanGraphs, it's going to take a monumental run over their final 18 games to give themselves even a sliver of true hope.

Pittsburgh is hitting the road for three-game series against the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs, both of whom are just about guaranteed to make the playoffs.

After that, the Pirates head back to PNC Park and take on the Milwaukee Brewers in a three-game set before finishing the regular season against the Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Cardinals and Detroit Tigers.

Pittsburgh feels like it'll have to go 14-4 from here on out at an absolute minimum, and even that might not ultimately be enough.

Get Some Serious Help from Other Teams

The Diamondbacks are on a three-game win streak and also own the tiebreaker over the Pirates despite the two teams splitting their season series at 3-3 because they have a better record in their own division (28-18 vs. 22-21).

Pittsburgh also went 3-3 vs. San Diego, and much like Arizona, the Padres currently hold the tiebreaker because they're 22-17 against the NL West.

San Diego could lose hold of the tiebreaker, however, if it struggle in its four remaining series against divisional opponents while the Pirates perform well against the Cubs, Brewers and Cardinals.

Still, if Pittsburgh does go 14-4 and finishes 85-77, it would need the Diamondbacks to go no better than 7-10 while the Padres win no more than eight of their remaining 18 games.

The Pirates are a half-game behind the Miami Marlins and Cardinals too, but as long as they take care of business, neither club will be a factor.

Bats Need to Get Going

Of Pittsburgh's eight hitters who have logged 100 or more plate appearances since the All-Star break, only Brandon Lowe (117) and Nick Gonzales (133) have posted a wRC+ of over 100.

The likes of Esmerlyn Valdez (93), Bryan Reynolds (80), Jacob Gonzalez (58) and Spencer Horwitz (13) have all struggled when they've been on the field over the past two months or so.

The same can be said for Ryan O'Hearn, who has a 36 wRC+ in 59 plate appearances during the second half and is now set to begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Indianapolis after being out since July 31 with a left quadriceps strain.

The Pirates' lineup was one of the best in baseball for the first couple of months of the season, but the club has scored the third-fewest runs since the All-Star break.

If a massive last-season surge is in store for Pittsburgh, its offense has to wake up and score runs in droves.