Harrison finding his swing, Pirates overlooked needed competition in right field, Kunitz/Elias & more in today’s TIOPS Daily Five

*Rumblings, Musings, Opinions*

1. Good news for the Pirates, Josh Harrison has found his swing. Harrison was 3-4 with a double, RBI in the Pirates 8-5 loss to the Twins tonight. Harrison is batting .517 (15-29) in the midst of a seven game hitting streak. During that span, Harrison’s average has gone from .173 to .245.

2. The Pirates fell to 18-21 on the season with tonight’s loss. Including the Pirates, 9 teams in the National League are currently under .500.

3. The future is bright for Gregory Polanco but he still might be a year or two away from being a consistent impact player in the Pirates lineup. He has a batting line of .234/.297/.326 on the season, just 1 home run, 11 RBIs. The Pirates not protecting themselves with a starter capable No. 4 outfielder and someone who could battle with Polanco for playing time, could end up becoming the one of the Pirates biggest failings this season.

4. After taking a tough guy stance initially, Patriots owner Robert Kraft won’t appeal the Patriots suspension or take the NFL to court. Smart on Kraft coming to his senses as he had no chance to win over other owners. They are loving the suspension handed down by the league. Now everyone will be waiting for it when Tom Brady’s suspension gets lessened and the theories that Kraft and Roger Goodell made some sort of behind the scenes deal this week will never be known but can’t be ruled out if that’s how things play out.

5. Patrick Elias on the Penguins radar?

The Penguins want to get some of their older contracts with 2 years or more remaining on their deals, off the books for the 2016-2017 season and haven’t ruled out trade options by taking on a bigger contract for this season that expires after the 2015-2016 season. One reason being a potential strong UFA class in the summer of 2016.

A rumor making the rounds in league circles at the World Championships I’m told is Chris Kunitz going to New Jersey for Patrick Elias with Elias deal coming off the books after next season being of interest to the Penguins.