2011 Set - Pittsburgh Pirates

This team is rough. The Pirates were only the third worst team in the NL Central in 2011, but that is partly because at the time, the disastrous Houston Astros were the 6th team in the Central.

Andrew McCutchen is one of the best cards in the set, in terms of the look of the card, as well as in being an affordable card that does a lot of things well. Excellent value. Jose Tabata is great value as well: for 190, you get

an 8 OB with A speed and a decent chart. Ryan Doumit is a good bat for a catcher, but he’s a catcher you’d only ever DH. It gets rough after that.

Joel Hanrahan and PR addition Jason Grilli are good bullpen options, but the rest of the relievers and starters are average or below. It’s no surprise this team was only 2 games from being the 2nd worst team in the NL.

Last, but not least: Pirates legend Dick Groat gets an In Memoriam card after passing away in 2023.

Foils: Dick Groat (IM), Andrew McCutchen

Pennant Run additions:

And the In Memoriam card for Dick Groat: