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No, this is not an April Fools column.

I can understand some skepticism. Something seemingly as bonkers was once written as a great hoax on April Fools' Day in 1985 for Sports Illustrated. George Plimpton detailed the rise of the Mets’ eccentric prospect Sidd Finch, who pitched baseballs at preposterous speeds, while, in his off time, studied yoga and played the French Horn. In a pre-Internet time, the article caused many to believe the existence of Sidd Finch, a fictional character from a sportswriting ruse.

Well, here in 2024, in the extremely nascent season, the eternally woebegone Pirates are actually playing brilliant baseball. The franchise with just four winning seasons since 1992 is 4-0. Their next three games are against the rebuilding Washington baseball team. And in their first 35 games, the Pirates have series against beatable teams including the Nationals, Tigers, Mets, Red Sox, A’s and Rockies.

And come to think of it, perhaps the Pirates do have a Sidd Finch in their system. Baseball’s No. 1 pitching prospect is the mustached virtuoso Paul Skenes, a starting pitcher who hit 101.2 mph in his first Class AAA start.

The No. 1 pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, Skenes pitched three innings last Saturday — and the innings were perfect. He also struck out five batters. And check this out from : “Across 21 fastballs, he averaged 100.1 mph and reached triple-digits a dozen times. None of his heaters came in below 99.1 mph. In the Statcast era, only two Major League pitchers (Jacob deGrom and Hunter Greene) have had a start with as many fastballs and a higher average fastball velocity.”

So, yeah, Skenes will surely be with the Pirates quite soon. He’ll join a rotation that includes rookie Jared Jones, who struck out 10 in his first MLB start this weekend.

Offensively, in the four-game sweep of the Marlins in Miami, the swashbuckling and swatting Pirates scored 31 runs (while Pirates pitching allowed 17). Oneil Cruz crushed baseballs. The prized Pirate homered and has a .357 average so far. Ke’Bryan Hayes is at .444. Bryan Reynolds is back to his ways, hitting .316.

In "The Best Podcast In Baseball," Post-Dispatch writer Derrick Goold mentioned a recent interview session with Craig Counsell. The new Cubs manager talked about how if a team is going to shift a season, it’s going to take some surprises. Well, the Pirates have a few fun things cooking early — for instance, some unexpected guys pitching well. The bullpen has a National League-low 0.89 ERA (in 20 1/3 innings).

What does all this mean? Maybe nothing — after all, the Pirates started 20-8 last year, but finished with a record of 76-86. But I want to think this start states that Pittsburgh could be a winning team in 2024 and a potential thorn in the side of the Cardinals, who are vying for a playoff spot. As we know, the NL Central is expected to be particularly tight — and now Pittsburgh could be in the mix.

Last year the Cardinals went 4-9 against the Pirates. It was the first losing record to Pittsburgh since 2013. ×îÐÂÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ plays the Pirates 13 times this season.

Most sites picked the Pirates last in the Central. However, The Sporting News did predict the following records:

1. Cubs (81-81), 2. Reds (81-81), 3. Cardinals (81-81) 4. Brewers (80-82), 5. Pirates (79-83).

Something to remember as the season unfolds.