Hartsock

Notes and observations as the calendar on the Pittsburgh Pirates’ season flips the page to July:

– The Pirates entered last offseason with their most obvious and pressing need being to strengthen an offense which had been floundering at the bottom of the National League in many key categories, including total runs scored and home runs.

The Pirates’ front office addressed those concerns last winter with the acquisitions of 2025 American League all-stars Brandon Lowe and Ryan O’Hearn.

Thus, overall improvement at the bat was expected for this year’s team, which nonetheless entered the 2026 season with its starting pitching as its trump card.

The degree of improvement in the Pirates’ offense this year, however, has exceeded even the most optimistic outlook.

Indeed, it’s been jaw-dropping.

After scoring a total of only 583 runs during the entire 2025 season – an average of only 3.59 runs per game – the Pirates have already scored a total of 440 runs through the team’s first 85 games this season. That’s an average of 5.1 runs per game, entering Tuesday night’s game in Philadelphia against the Phillies.

That’s a pace that could enable this year’s Pirates to surpass the all-time single-season franchise record of 809 runs that was put on the scoreboard by the 1940 Buccos.

This year’s team home run totals are even more eye-opening. Led by Lowe’s 20 homers, the Pirates have already cracked 107 this season – just 10 beyond their entire output for all of last season, with nearly half this season yet to be played.

The Bucs have double-figure home-run outputs from second baseman Lowe (20), center fielder Oneil Cruz (14) — who is currently on the injured list with a broken hand – and O’Hearn (10).

But perhaps just as significantly, the additions of Lowe and O’Hearn have considerably lengthened the Pirates’ lineup, offering other players up and down the batting order increased opportunities to see better pitches to hit.

The Pirates have scored at least seven runs in 25 of their first 85 games this season, including nine games in which they have scored 10 or more runs.

– It’s an offensive transformation that has been bolstered by the arrival of highly-touted 20-year-old shortstop Konnor Griffin – who the Bucs signed to a franchise-record $140 million, nine-year contract this past April. Griffin was fast-tracked through the Pirates’ minor-league system after being selected by the Bucs with the ninth overall pick in the first round of the 2024 MLB Amateur Baseball Draft.

– Another new arrival, 22-year-old outfielder Esmerlyn Valdez, has started his MLB career on a tear, with six homers already to his credit in his first 16 major league games. Valdez’s home run off veteran Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola in Monday’s series opener marked his fourth consecutive game with a round-tripper. Only two other players in the Pirates’ franchise history, Garrett Jones (2009 season) and Dick Stuart (1958 season) have accomplished four straight games with home runs in their rookie seasons.

– The Pirates face an interesting set of circumstances with Lowe, who will celebrate his 32nd birthday next Monday. Lowe, who also leads the Pirates in RBIs (50) through 85 games, was signed to a one-year, $11 million contract with a club option last offseason after the Pirates acquired him from Tampa Bay in a three-team deal.

He will be a free agent at the conclusion of this season, and will undoubtedly enter the open market seeking a lucrative multi-year contract. The Pirates, and many other MLB teams, would likely not to be able to top traditionally free-spending franchises like the Los Angeles Dodgers, the New York Mets and Yankees, the San Diego Padres or the Chicago Cubs in a bidding war for Lowe’s services, and the blockbuster Griffin contract has made a very significant impact on the Pirates’ team payroll.

At the same time, it would behoove the Pirates to make a very competitive offer to keep Lowe in Pittsburgh for the next several seasons. The Bucs reportedly made a competitive offer last offseason for slugger Kyle Schwarber, who leads the National League in home runs this season but decided to remain with the Phillies only because they offered him a coveted fifth year on his new contract.

Lowe wouldn’t carry nearly the $150 million price tag that Schwarber commanded, and if the Pirates and Lowe could come to an agreement on, say a four-year deal this offseason, that would appear to be a win-win for both parties.

– As good as the Pirates’ offense has been this season, the Bucs’ shaky bullpen – which has 17 blown saves in its first 34 save opportunities – has been an Achilles Heel that has snatched defeat from the jaws of victory on multiple occasions through the season’s first three full months. Look for the Bucs to add a reputable arm, or two, in the pen as their primary order of business before the MLB Trade Deadline later this summer.

– While Paul Skenes is coming off consecutive NL Rookie of the Year and NL Cy Young award-winning seasons in 2024 and 2025, respectively, and — despite his 6-8 record this year — is still the unquestioned ace of the Pirates’ pitching staff, righty Braxonn Ashcraft has emerged as a diamond in the rough in the Bucs’ rotation. Ashcraft sports a club-best 8-3 record after working six innings in a victorious outing against the Phillies on Monday, and over the past month, he became the first Pirates pitcher in the Modern Baseball Era (since 1901) to record multiple games in a single season with at least 10 strikeouts and no walks when he pulled off that feat against the Minnesota Twins and Seattle Mariners.

Ashcraft put together a particularly dominant month of May in which he compiled a 4-0 record and club-best 1.99 earned run average over six starts. He completed at least six full innings in all of his starts during the month, and he has recorded 10 quality starts (six or more innings, giving up three runs or less) in his 16 starts so far this season.

While Lowe is a virtual lock to represent the Pirates in the 2026 Major League Baseball All-Star Game on Tuesday, July 14 at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park, Ashcraft is making a very strong case for his inclusion on the National League team’s pitching staff that night.

John Hartsock can be reached at jhartsock@altoonamirror.com