Pirates Still Not Seen As Contenders After Busy Offseason
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates made many additions to their roster for Opening Day, but most national media see them as still behind were they need to be to compete for the playoffs.
The Pirates come into the 2026 season with a revamped lineup, with a few new bats to help out their atrocious hitting from last year and a pitching staff that excelled in 2025, but that hasn't convinced most people to change their minds.
Pittsburgh ranks near or in the bottom of third of recent power rankings, including No. 20 for The Athletic, No. 21 for Bleacher Report and MLB.com, No. 22 for both ESPN and The Score and No. 23 for CBS Sports.
The Ringer was the site highest on the Pirates, putting them at No. 18, but that's still off from the top 12 spots, which would have them as a playoff team.
How Can the Pirates Prove National Media Wrong?
The Pirates used both trades and the free agent market to improve their roster for 2026, mostly addressing lineup concerns.
Pittsburgh signed power bats in Ryan O'Hearn and Marcell Ozuna, plus traded for second baseman Brandon Lowe from the Tampa Bay Rays, who led all players at his position with 31 home runs in 2025.
The Pirates ranked last in home runs (117), as well as slugging percentage (.350), OPS (.655), runs scored (583) and RBI (561) in 2025.
Pittsburgh also added some outfield depth in Jake Mangum from the Rays' trade and Jhostynxon Garcia, a prospect that will start in Triple-A, plus left-handed relievers in Gregory Soto and Mason Montgomery, also from the Rays' trade.
The Pirates will need Ozuna, O'Hearn and Lowe to consistently produce from the plate, bringing power and extra-base hits, but also for hitters like outfielders in Oneil Cruz and Bryan Reynolds to bounce back and have strong seasons in 2026, plus for Spencer Horwitz to keep up his strong finish to 2025.
Pittsburgh has a strong rotation and a bullpen that compliments it well, as they finished with 19 shutouts, most in MLB in 2025, and ranked seventh with a 3.76 ERA.
Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes, veteran Mitch Keller and rookies Braxton Ashcraft and Bubba Chandler will lead the rotation, with Carmen Mlodzinski looking to finally excel as a starter.
The bullpen has a number of great right-handed arms in Justin Lawrence, who had a 0.79 ERA in 11 outings in 2025, Isaac Mattson and Dennis Santana, both Montgomery and Soto, plus a left-handed pitcher in rookie Hunter Barco, who will serve a bulk role and earn starts.
Pittsburgh made three straight postseason from 2013-15 with great pitching from the rotation and bullpen, featuring a mixture of veterans and young aces.
If the Pirates can continue their strong pitching in 2026 and have an improved offense around the middle of the major leagues, they've got a good shot to end their decade-long postseason drought.
Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.