Thanks to strong pitching and a recent offensive surge, there’s a baseball team sitting atop its division at the All-Star break.

The squad is 8-2 in its last 10 games, tough to beat at home and has its sights set on a long-awaited playoff berth with the help of an All-Star closer and MVP candidate who leads the league in hitting.

Surprisingly, the Pittsburgh Pirates fit all of these descriptions, but I’m referring to the Butler BlueSox.

The BlueSox are 6-1 so far in the second half of the Prospect League season, boasting a 24-13 record overall. The stellar play to start the second half is no fluke, either. Butler is 18-5 in its last 23 games and doesn’t have a glaring hole on the roster.

There’s six BlueSox at tonight’s Prospect League All-Star game to prove it.

Elliott Caldwell won’t be in the East Division All-Star starting lineup, which has to be some sort of practical joke.

Caldwell has played all 37 games for the BlueSox, leads the Prospect League with a .414 average; second in runs scored at 45; third in stolen bases with 18; tied for the lead with four triples; fifth in on-base percentage at .478 and his .611 slugging percentage is good for seventh.

The offensive numbers are staggering, but Caldwell is also a team player with versatility. He was the everyday shortstop, before Brendan Costantino joined the team June 22. Since then, Caldwell has played one game at shortstop, while spending time in right field, center field, left field and third base. Basically, he’s a manager’s dream.

Caldwell is only part of the equation to Butler’s success, though.

Jared Locke will start on the mound for the East All-Stars tonight, pitching to a familiar target in BlueSox catcher Matt Albaugh.

Locke’s 45 strikeouts — at least seven in each of his five starts — rank second in the league and he owns a 3-1 record with a 2.41 ERA. Albaugh has been stellar with the bat, hitting .328 on the season, while backstopping a pitching staff that leads the league in whiffs.

Kyle Thomas earned All-Star honors with a 4-0 record, 3.08 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 38 innings. Second baseman Jason Radwan also made the showcase, hitting .303 with 10 extra-base hits.

BlueSox closer and Gibsonia native Adam Dian anchors the bullpen with a league-high 11 saves. Of course, it helps when opposing hitters can hardly put the bat on the ball.

Dian has fanned 38 of 92 batters faced — 41.3 percent — which helped punch his ticket to the All-Star game.

I’m not sure how the balloting works, but the votes must have been tallied before June 21. That’s the only way to explain the omission of Kyle Petty, who was batting just .244 at the time. Since then, he owns a .453 average with four homers, three triples and 28 RBIs during a 16-game hit streak.

Four late arrivals for the BlueSox have only bolstered Butler’s chances of a second-half division crown.

Costantino is hitting .355 with 21 runs scored and 10 stolen bases in 15 games. A trio of Kent State players — including Grove City grad Alex Miklos and Gibsonia native Eric Dorsh — have also made an impact coming off their trip to the College World Series. George Roberts has been especially productive with 15 hits in 33 at-bats.

Many baseball fans in Butler are excited to see the Pirates on pace to snap a string of 19 straight losing seasons. The BlueSox, though, have a dubious streak of their own with zero playoff appearances.

This seems to be the year both franchises have been waiting for.

Jason Orfao is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.