May 18, 2013 By John Perrotto for The 3 min read

There is no better time to talk about the quarter pole than the midst of the Triple Crown season.

The Pirates passed the quarter pole of their season on Thursday like thoroughbreds with a 24-17 record. They were fourth in the National League in runs allowed and, most impressively, first in the major leagues in defensive efficiency, a metric that counts the percentage of balls in play that are turned into outs.

The Pirates were also on a pace to win 95 games. That would not only end the Pirates’ streak of 20 consecutive losing seasons but, particularly in the new two wild-card era, almost assuredly gain them a berth in the postseason.

The irony of the Pirates being on pace for 95 wins one-quarter of the way through the season is that was exactly the number of victories manager Clint Hurdle predicted for the Bucs in spring training.

It seemed silly at the time and still seems like a lofty goal. However, Hurdle is impressed by what he is seeing.

“I like the rotation now. The depth has never been better,” Hurdle said. “I love the work the bullpen is doing. Offensively, our lineup’s never been deeper, and we’ve still got some guys capable of doing more. Defensively, we’re catching the ball. We’re playing 27 outs. We’re running the bases much more effectively.”

This is the most talented team the Pirates have fielded since 2003 when players like right-hander Jeff Suppan and outfielders Kenny Lofton and Reggie Sanders fell into their laps in a soft free agent market. However, the Pirates were hurt by early-season bullpen implosions that year then started selling off players — most notably young power-hitting third baseman Aramis Ramirez — and finished 75-87.

It is hard to imagine that happening to this team, though. In fact, it’s going to be intriguing to see what happens over the next three quarters.

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The Pirates seem like they knew what they were doing by trading closer Joel Hanrahan to Boston in December, even though he had a combined 76 saves over the last two seasons.

Many clubs had no interest in dealing for Hanrahan, though, fearful that he had arm problems after his awful finish to last season. Sure enough, Hanrahan had season-ending Tommy John reconstructive elbow surgery on Thursday.

While trading Hanrahan was clearly a win for the Pirates from a business side — the Red Sox are paying him $7.04 million this season — it’s easy to forget the game is played by human beings. Hanrahan is as good of a guy as you’ll find in the game and it’s sad to see him suffer such misfortune.

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Two things about the “wooing” that goes on during seemingly every game at PNC Park — I don’t understand what it means and I find it annoying.

It’s hell to get old, out of touch and irritable.