Shirt Pocket Notes - Pittsburgh Pirates Edition

Some quick hit thoughts on the 2026 Pittsburgh Pirates, a topic upon which The Grandstander has been unusually silent thus far this season.  

On the whole, one has to be quite satisfied with how the team has performed this season, especially when compared to the abomination that was 2025.  This thought is born out by taking a look at the standings in the NL Central Division as of this morning:

Yes, the Buccos are in last place, but they are two games over .500 at 29-26, a pace that would produce 86 wins this season, and who wouldn't have signed up for that on Opening Day?  Significantly, they are only one game behind the second place Cardinals.  Much has been made of the fact the this division is the only one in MLB where all five teams are over .500.  In contrast, the American League West has all five teams playing under .500. These are statistical anomalies that will certainly sort themselves out as the season wears on, but, still, at this point, you have to consider the team a playoff contender.

*****

The team made significant efforts to improve offensively prior to the season, and some of these moves have already paid off.

Brandon Lowe, 2B. 14 HR, 36 RBI, .269 BA, .915 OPS.  He's an All-Star for sure.

Ryan O'Hearn, OF/1B. 7 HR, 29 RBI, .289 BA, .827 OPS.  Currently on the Injured List, his absence will hurt, but he too has been a very good addition.

Then there is Marcel Ozuna, DH. 5 HR, 21 RBI, .186 BA, .573 OPS.  He is also on pace to strike out over 150 times this season.  Apologists will say "well, he has a history of being streaky" but the season has passed the one-third mark and you have to wonder how much longer the team can carry a DH who is, let's be honest, stinking up the joint. 

*****

Oneil Cruz.  We all know about the latent talent, and in fact he is producing at the plate with 11 HR, 35 RBI, .260 BA, .777 OPS.  He has also struck out 89 times, on pace for a mind numbing 257 K's this season.  He is also a Capital T Terrible outfielder.  This is his third season playing in CF, and he hasn't improved a bit.  I always thought that Dave Kingman was the worst major league outfielder that I ever saw, but Cruz is worse.  He is not a good baserunner, and he tends to not hustle 100% at times.  I can recall a game where he nonchalanted it out of the batter's box when he hit a lazy short fly to the outfield, only to see the ball drop between the outfielders, just as he was reaching first base.  What could have been a double, turned into a single simply because of lack of effort.

Then there is his penchant for ABS challenges.  A challenge of a strike call when he was the leadoff batter in the first inning of a game?  Really?  Just last night he challenged a strike call that wasn't even close.  In both of these cases, the calls were upheld by the ABS system.  He is one player who should be expressly forbidden from registering an ABS challenge.

If ever a guy was born to be a Designated Hitter, it's Oneil Cruz.  The team should cut bait on Ozuna and install Cruz as the DH as soon as possible, and when they do, they should never let Cruz wear a glove and play in the field ever again.

*****

There is cause for excitement with the arrival of Konnor Griffen.  After a start where he was hitting below .200, he has goosed his average to .261 and is starting to exhibit some "doubles power" and has hit 4 HR.  He is also a very good defensive short stop. The team did the right thing when they signed him at age 20 to a nine year $140 million contract earlier in the season.

*****

The injury to O'Hearn has led to the Pirates calling up a couple of their younger outfield prospects, Esmerlyn Valdez and Jhostynxon "The Password" Garcia.  The two have accumulated only 37 AB's between them, so it's way too early to pass judgement, but early results are promising, and it shows that the Pirates are willing to bring up guys to replace guys who are not producing.

*****

Catcher Joey Bart was showing signs that he could be a productive hitter, but then he had to be placed on the IL.  Endy Rodriguez was called up and is hitting .316 but in a limited number of AB's thus far.  That leaves Henry Davis - say it with me, a "former Number One overall draft pick" - as the primary catcher.  

Davis is batting .139.

I don't care if he is as good a defensive catcher as Johnny Bench, nor do I care how much Paul Skenes likes to pitch to him, that simply cannot be allowed to happen.  If you are serious about contending, you cannot have a guy hitting .139 as a part of your everyday lineup.

I don't know what the answer is, but it can't be Henry Davis.

*****

Pitching.  The Pirates starting pitching has been good, maybe even very good.  Paul Skenes, despite two straight rough outings, is simply the best pitcher in baseball.  Braxton Ashcraft has been terrific, Mitch Keller has been solid and steady, and even Carmon Mlodzinski has been solid.  Bubba Chandler is still figuring it out, but the signs are there that he will be a good starting big league pitcher.  Oh, and Jared Jones will be returning a soon.

Paul Skenes and Braxton Ashcraft

Then there is the bullpen, which, after starting out well, has been an utter disaster in recent weeks. I am at the point where I have no faith in any of these guys that they bring in out of the pen.

*****

One guy that I have really come to like on the team is first baseman Spencer Horowitz.  Oh, he's not a superstar or an all-star, but he has proven to be a solid and steady player.  A "nice lookin' ballplayer" as by grandfather Bill Madden would have put it.  He is currently hitting .288 with an .850 OPS and has 6 HR and 25 RBI.  Maybe not quite the power production you want from your first baseman, but not all that bad, either.  That trade to acquire him prior to the '25 season is looking like a win for GM Ben Cherrington.

*****

Who is the most irritating member of this year's Pirates?  That's an easy one for me.  It is new pitching coach Bill Murphy.  He may or may not be a good pitching coach, time will tell on that front, but every time he makes that agonizingly sloooooowwwww walk out to the pitcher's mound, I would like to run on the field and punch him in the face.  Well, I would never do that, nor would I advocate that such a thing be done, so I just content myself with bitching about it as I stare at the TV set.

Oh, and he better figure out how get something, anything, out of his relievers.

*****

So, at this point in the season, I am giving the Bucs a solid "B" for their performance thus far.  Much improved over the abominable team of 2025.  Given their starting pitching, and the fact that six teams can now make the Playoffs in each league, I would give them a puncher's chance of doing so, or, at the very least, stay in contention for such a spot all the way through September.  And it hey do make the post-season?  Well, a team having to face Skenes-Ashcraft-Keller in a short series won't have an easy time of it.  

Way too early to be entertaining thoughts like that however.   In the meantime, I am planning to keep on enjoying this season.