With spring training coming to a close and Opening Day approaching nearer, Pittsburgh fans are expecting nothing less than a division title or a playoff run that extends past the wild card game. The past two years, the Pittsburgh Pirates lost the Wild Card games thanks to amazing performances from Madison Bumgarner of the San Francisco Giants and Jake Arrieta of the Chicago Cubs.

This season though all of Pittsburgh and the players themselves realize that it is now or never to establish themselves as a true contender especially with the rising talents on the Chicago Cubs and the always resilient St. Louis Cardinals in their own division.

Some things that could come in the way of the team’s goals are the departures of Neil Walker and Pedro Alvarez. These two players provided good offense in the past years and were key parts to the latest rebuilding of the franchise. With Walker and Alvarez accounting for 43 of the total amount of home runs in the 2015 season, it is evident that some of the pop in the lineup is not there anymore.

A good thing for the team though is the way Andrew McCutchen’s spring training has gone thus far. As he claims to be fully healthy unlike the start of last season, he has been swinging the bat much better and thus has been hitting home runs very often. If McCutchen keeps batting the way he has been in spring, the much needed offense might not go through the same strain as some thought it would.

Another problem the Pirates have are the missing parts in the starting rotation. The first two pitchers, Gerrit Cole and Francisco Liriano, will be a nightmare for opposing batters if they live up to expectations. But past that, the three other rotation jobs are left to competition.

The easy fix though could come later in the year with the possible promotions of Tyler Glasnow and Jameson Taillon. These two men will have the entire fan base of the MLB ready to watch them as they are known as some of the top prospects in all of baseball.

Another possibility is that the three pitchers that win the job will be able to have breakout seasons as other pitchers have had ever since joining the Pirates. The latest pitcher to revive his career was J.A. Happ who left in free agency to sign with the Blue Jays. The Pirates will be hoping for this to happen as it would take some time for the first fix to come into action.

Lastly, the entire rotation will have the backing of one of the best if not the best bullpens in the MLB. Headed by Tony Watson and Mark Melancon, the bullpen will be able to help keep opposing batters perplexed and unable to preform as they are very consistent in their own performances.

The upcoming season will have its anticipated problems for the Pirates, but it will be interesting to watch the Pirates battle through the most competitive division in the MLB and its own problems to try and come out on top.

The season will kick off against the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday, April 3 at 1:05 p.m.