Bucs have key roster decisions to make in offseason
Pittsburgh Pirates season in review
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With the Pittsburgh Pirates facing a playoffs-or-bust scenario in 2026 after a disappointing 71-91 finish in 2025, the Pirates' front office did everything that it could at the bargaining table last offseason and at this season's trade deadline to try to get the franchise its first trip to the National League postseason since 2015.
Pirates general manager Ben Cherington pulled off a couple major coups last winter in signing two 2025 American League All-Stars, second baseman Brandon Lowe and first baseman Ryan O'Hearn.
Lowe signed a one-year contract with the Pirates, who acquired him in a blockbuster three-team trade with the Tampa Bay Rays and Houston Astros that also brought left-handed reliever Mason Montgomery and outfielder Jake Mangum to Pittsburgh.
O'Hearn signed a two-year free agent deal with Pittsburgh after splitting the 2025 season with the Baltimore Orioles and the San Diego Padres. O'Hearn became the first Pirates position player to sign a multi-year contract since John Jaso did so back in 2016.
Lowe had a monster season in 2026, leading the Pirates in both home runs (35) and RBIs, but will become a free agent again this offseason, and is very likely to be offered a blockbuster multi-year contract on the open market.
Lowe has publicly expressed an interest in signing again with the Pirates, but retaining him in Major League Baseball's high-rolling, free-spending free agent market will present a formidable challenge for the Buccos.
O'Hearn was also an exceedingly positive addition, contributing 18 home runs and 76 RBIs despite missing a total of eight weeks of the season with hamstring injuries in both of his legs.
When the bullpen became a glaring liability over the first half of the 2026 season, Cherington acquired three proven veteran relievers at the trade deadline in Camilio Doval, Jeff Weaver and Kirby Yates, while Montgomery proved to be a true diamond in the rough who became a lock-down ninth-inning closer over the season's final two months.
Unlike in many past seasons, the Pirates pulled out every possible stop at the negotiating table to work their way into playing October baseball this fall, but unfortunately, it still wasn't quite enough.
The Pirates finished the 2026 season with a winning 82-80 record and in third place in the National League's Central Division standings, 21 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers, who won their fourth straight NL Central title.
Though the Pirates finished with their first winning season since 2018 and just the franchise's fifth since 1993, the Bucs finished six games out of the third and final NL Wild Card playoff position, which was secured by the Philadelphia Phillies, who finished with a record of 88-74.
It's very true that the Pirates are a much better team at the close of this season than they were at the close of last season, for a number of reasons.
Yet, the biggest prize -- a return to the postseason -- remained out of reach for the Bucs this season, and Cherington is keenly aware of it.
"If you're not playing games in October, you haven't met what you set out to do,'' Cherington said when he was a guest on Pittsburgh's 93.7 The Fan sports radio Pirates Insider segment recently.
"We have to find a way to get better. Because (of) our fans, this organization deserves to be playing in October,'' Cherington added. "That's our sole focus.''
With a labor strike a distinct possibility in Major League Baseball for the 2027 season, missing a chance at the postseason this year seemed doubly frustrating for the Pirates and their fans.
Injuries impact progress
Several things factored into the Pirates falling short of the postseason for an 11th straight year, with injuries to key players right at the top of the list.
Center fielder Oneil Cruz came into his own at the plate during the first two months of the season, before sustaining a hand injury while sliding into home plate during a June 7 game with the Atlanta Braves in Atlanta.
The injury put Cruz on the shelf for the next 59 games -- which amounted to over one-third of the schedule -- and without him during that time, the Pirates went only 27-32. By the time that Cruz had returned on Aug. 18, the Pirates were four games under .500 at 62-66, 17 games out of first place in the division and six games behind in the Wild Card race, behind four other teams for the third and final Wild Card playoff spot.
Cruz finished the season with 20 home runs, 67 RBIs, a .280 batting average, and 30 steals - but might have wound up challenging Pirates' franchise single-season records in most or all of those categories had he been healthy enough to play the great majority of the season.
Almost as damaging as Cruz's absence was the injury sustained by rookie shortstop Konnor Griffin, who suffered a tear to the sagittal band on his left ring finger while diving for a ground ball in a July 5 game against the Washington Nationals in Washington that put him on the Pirates' Injured List for two months, until he was able to return on Sept. 4.
The 20-year-old Griffin, who the Pirates signed to a franchise record nine-year, $140 million contract in April, would likely have put up the type of offensive numbers - that, if coupled with the presence of a healthy Cruz - could have made a world of difference in how this season ultimately unfolded for the Buccos.
O'Hearn was having an outstanding season until suffering a left quad strain while running the bases during a July 31 game in Cincinnati. The injury sidelined him for six weeks.
It was no coincidence that, with several of their biggest contributors sidelined for extended periods of time, the Pirates took a hit in the standings.
The Bucs went on a 3-12 skid between July 28 and August 12 that dropped them from being tied for the final Wild Card spot with a 55-52 record to being six games out of the spot with a 58-64 record -- a stretch that was the team's ultimate season-shaper in a negative way.
Even with the injuries, the offense was prolific, particularly in the first half of the season, as the Pirates averaged over 5.7 runs per game in the 97 games they played prior to the all-star break.
The Pirates scored a total of 767 runs this season -- a marked increase from last season's 583 that placed them dead last in the NL in that category. Since the turn of this century, only the 2000 Pirates, who scored 793 runs, had more run production in a single season.
After hitting an NL low 117 home runs last year, the Pirates belted a franchise-record 186 this season. Led by Lowe, Cruz, and O'Hearn, along with veteran outfielder Bryan Reynolds and rookie outfield sensation Esmerlyn Valden (who both hit 17), the Pirates boasted a total of eight different players with 10 home runs or more.
Infielder Nick Gonzales provided another potent hitting threat in the batting order, challenging for the National League batting title throughout most of the season. Gonzales finished with a .303 batting average that placed him fourth among the league's final batting leaders, and he also drove in 61 runs.
Bullpen struggles
The Pirates' bullpen was a glaring liability in the first half of the season, when the team's 19 blown saves at the August 3 trade deadline were among the most in the National League.
Two of the worst offenders -- veterans Justin Lawrence and Dennis Santana -- were eventually designated for assignment in midseason.
Veteran lefty Gregory Soto, acquired from the Mets last offseason, was inconsistent enough in the closer's role over the first four months of this season that he was eventually moved primarily into a lower-leverage sixth and seventh-inning role after the Pirates picked up the three veteran relievers at the trade deadline.
Montgomery proved to be an unexpected hammer, with a 100-plus miles-per-hour fast ball that enabled him to lock down the closer's role in the latter part of the season, and he finished with 18 saves in 21 opportunities, while logging 105 strikeouts and just 26 walks in 68ª innings pitched. He set a modern era (since 1901) Pirates franchise record by registering 25 consecutive scoreless appearances in a two-month span from July 27 through Sept. 26.
The right-handed veteran Weaver will return on the second year of a two-year contract if there is a season to be played in 2027, and will team with Montgomery to give the Pirates' pen great stability over the eighth and ninth innings.
A step back for Skenes
Entering the season, the Pirates' starting rotation, led by 2025 National League Cy Young Award winner and 2024 National League Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes, was considered one of the best in the National League.
However, Skenes took a noticeable step back in 2026, and left legions of observers wondering why.
After posting an NL-leading 1.97 earned run average in 2025 that earned him the NL Cy Young Award in spite of a 10-10 record that would have been much better had the Pirates' offense given him adequate support, Skenes faced marked challenges this past season, when his velocity on his fast ball dropped several miles per hour and the location of his pitches left him vulnerable in several bad outings.
Skenes struggled through a personal seven-game winless starting streak that began in late July and ran through the month of August.
Based largely on reputation alone, Skenes -- who the Pirates took out of LSU with the first overall pick in the 2022 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft -- was selected to participate in the Major League Baseball All-Star Game for the third time in his three MLB seasons.
But the big right-hander's struggles this year were unexpected, and contributed significantly to the Pirates missing several opportunities to pick up wins and ground in the playoff chase.
Skenes participated in the World Baseball Classic last March, and that required additional preparation and an earlier start to his preseason that could have factored into his season-long struggles.
"It was a grind -- it was definitely a grind -- (but) I think it was a good year,'' Skenes told the media after his final start this season, a 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sept. 24 at Pittsburgh's PNC Park in which he pitched into the seventh inning. "I don't think (this year) was the caliber of the last two years (which also included winning the NL Rookie of the Year Award in 2024), but I'm not going to sit around all this offseason thinking about how bad this season was, because I just don't think that's true.
"I understand the standard that was set over the last couple of years, but I think that there was a lot of good along with stuff to get better at,'' added Skenes, whose earned run average was 4.56 in his final 23 outings after May 17.
Skenes did make a team-high 32 starts this year, and finished with 200 strikeouts again while working 174.1 innings. In striking out at least 200 batters for the second straight year, Skenes became the first Pirates pitcher to accomplish that feat since lefthander Bob Veale racked up three consecutive seasons with at least 200 strikeouts from 1964 through 1966.
Skenes maintained that his health is fine and that he is throwing the ball as well as he ever has, but his numbers -- including an earned run average jump to 3.82 this year from his NL best 1.97 in 2025 -- told a different story.
Moving forward, it will be imperative for Skenes to re-establish his ace role in the Pirates' rotation and return to his elite 2025 form.
Right-hander Braxton Ashcraft picked up the slack in his first season as a full-time starting pitcher this year, leading the Pirates' staff in victories. Ashcraft joined Skenes on the NL All-Star Team, while posting a 14-6 record and 3.65 ERA with 173 strikeouts across 28 starts.
Ashcraft's major workload jump this season -- from just over 70 innings in 2025 to over 165 innings this year -- contributed to what was termed as right-arm discomfort that placed him on the Pirates' 15-day Injured List in September.
As pleasant a surprise as Ashcraft was this season, the return to health of right-hander Jared Jones provided another boost to the Pirates' starting rotation.
After missing the entire 2025 season with a sprained ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow that required internal brace surgery, Jones bounced back strong this year, putting together a late-season string of 13 consecutive shutout innings with 17 strikeouts that included a no-hit bid for 6 andª innings against the White Sox in Chicago.
After struggling in August, Jones put together a fabulous month of September in which he posted a stellar 0.93 ERA across five starts.
Highly-touted right-hander Bubba Chandler showed progress with increased seasoning this year, and veteran righty Mitch Keller had another up-and-down campaign before a shoulder injury sidelined him for the rest of the season in early August.
All in all, the Pirates' pitching staff managed just a 4.15 ERA that placed the Bucs tied for eighth in that category among the 15 National League teams this year. In 2025, the Pirates' staff posted a 3.76 ERA that was third best in the league behind Milwaukee and San Diego, and led to high expectations for 2026 that were generally not fulfilled.
Cherington, Kelly review
With a year left on his contract as the team's general manager, coupled with the fact that he made all the required moves to improve the Pirates' stock over the past year, Cherington will likely - perhaps deservedly - be retained to at least finish out his current contract.
Field manager Don Kelly, who took over for the fired Derek Shelton in May of 2025 and helped right the Pirates' ship last season, also deserves to return.
Kelly is a players' manager who has earned the respect of the team, dating back to his tenure as the Pirates' long-time bench coach under Shelton. And the Pirates' record with Kelly as their manager stands at a competitive 140-145 that includes the 11-win improvement from last year's victory total of 71 to the 82 this season.
The microscope is always on the manager, but variables like the glut of injuries to key players, the bullpen's first-half inefficiency, and Skenes not pitching like Skenes can't fall squarely on Kelly's shoulders.
And there were undeniably positive takeaways from the just completed season.
"It was a steppingstone and a great step forward for the foundation that we're starting to build here,'' Kelly told the media after the Pirates secured their 82nd victory in their final game of the season, this past Sunday in Detroit. "We're disappointed that we're not going to the playoffs but there were a lot of good things about this season, and a lot of reason to be excited about the future.''
Moving forward
After the 2025 season, the Pirates needed to address a languid batting attack that was the main culprit in the Bucs' struggles.
The pitching staff in general, and the starting rotation in particular, was considered a massive strength.
Going into last winter, the Pirates were tasked with bolstering their offense, and, due largely to the offseason acquisitions, Pittsburgh was able to accomplish that in a very significant way.
If the Bucs can't re-sign Lowe this offseason, though, they'll have to wheel and deal at the bargaining table again to try to fill at least some of the huge void left by his departure.
The emergence of the 22-year-old right fielder Valdez, who hit 12 of his 17 home runs in June
and July, following an initial May call-up to the Pirates, was an unexpected and very pleasant surprise for the 2026 season.
Valdez -- who missed the last two-plus weeks of the season with a hamstring tear -- was named the National League's Rookie of the Month for July, when he belted eight home runs and drove in 25 runs across 25 games.
With a healthy Cruz and Griffin back in the fold, and heavy hitters like Reynolds, O'Hearn and Gonzales and Valdez all returning, the batting order is on solid footing.
It remains to be seen how much of the 2027 season -- if any -- will be lost in the event MLB Players Union and team owners fail to come to an agreement this offseason on key issues like a salary cap and/or salary floor.
A new collective bargaining agreement between the union and ownership will be needed when the current one expires this December.
If a full season is played next spring, summer and fall, the Pirates should have plenty of reason for optimism, after a 2026 campaign in which they showed considerable improvement in many areas despite falling short of their postseason goal.
John Hartsock can be reached at jhartsock@altoonamirror.com