The refactored version is doing what pipes would do in a language that doesn't support pipes; it's reordering the statements into execution order rather than having to use a mental "stack" to grok the original version.
Given that the OP stated that they like the pipe syntax, and the refactored version illustrates the hoops you'd have to jump through without it, I guess your comment is just a strange way to agree with the OP?
Given that the OP stated that they like the pipe syntax, and the refactored version illustrates the hoops you'd have to jump through without it, I guess your comment is just a strange way to agree with the OP?