The Pirates Hot Start Has Cooled, but They Continue to Be in First Place

Russell Carlton did some research about 15 years ago. If the batter is fouling off two strike pitches after being behind in the count, it means that he's more likely to get on base. But after the count evens, there's no particular advantage to fouling off a lot of pitches. It's got to be pretty crushing to have your pitch count go up that much and then also not even get in out.