Pirates back to form?

From the Never Assume Anything Department comes the 2003 Pittsburgh Pirates, a team that had a nice couple of first weeks and sent everybody running to their typewriters to pound out accolades. Four weeks into the season, however, these Pirates are beginning to look very much like last year's Pirates.

In spite of some big changes in personnel, the Pittsburgh offense is doing just about what it did last year: scoring under four runs per game. Surely, a healthy Brian Giles would be making up for some of the half-run difference between last year's per-game average and this year's. The Pirates were 6-3 when Giles was injured and have gone 4-11 since he left. While it is safe to say they miss him in the lineup, their 6-3 start had little to do with his contributions as he wasn't quite himself yet in the early going.

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