Pittsburgh Pirates Win Big to Break Out of Historic Season-Opening Slump

Prior to their blowout win over the Washington Nationals on Monday, the Pittsburgh Pirates boasted the lowest batting average through 16 games by any NL team in over a century.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes (13) hits an RBI single against the Washington Nationals during the first inning at PNC Park. | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

The Pittsburgh Pirates' bats blew up in a big way Monday night, possibly exorcising some demons that had been plaguing their lineup.

Eight of the Pirates' nine starters recorded at least one hit in the series opener against the Washington Nationals. They went a combined 14-for-31 at the plate with five walks, ultimately running away with a 10-3 victory.

Prior to Monday, though, Pittsburgh had hardly come anywhere near that level of production. Their batting average ranked dead-last in MLB all the way down at .184.

According to Codify Baseball, that was the lowest batting average by any National League team through the first 16 games of a season since the 1907 Brooklyn Superbas.

The 2025 Pittsburgh Pirates are batting .184 and that's the lowest AVG for a National League team in their first 16 games of a season since the 1907 Brooklyn Superbas.

— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) April 14, 2025

Monday's showing bumped their season batting average up to .199, which is still the lowest mark in the big leagues.

Andrew McCutchen, who went 1-for-2 with a walk and two runs on Monday, is batting .270 with a .747 OPS on the season. Catcher Joey Bart leads the team in both categories with a .275 batting average and .795 OPS.

No other qualified batters on Pittsburgh's roster boasts an OPS over .682, while 10 are at .505 or below.

The Pirates will try to keep the ball rolling Tuesday when they continue their series against the Nationals. First pitch from PNC Park is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. ET.

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