Predicting Pirates Opening Day Lineup vs. Mets
In this story:
PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates have just one day until the start the 2026 season and have an improved lineup from last year.
The Pirates will feature a few newcomers, such as free agent signings in Ryan O'Hearn, Marcell Ozuna and Brandon Lowe but also some older players too, like Oneil Cruz, Bryan Reynolds, Jared Triolo, Nick Gonzales and Spencer Horwitz.
Pittsburgh now has an offense that should produce much more than last year, where they ranked near or at bottom in most categories, including home runs, RBI, runs scored, slugging percentage and OPS.
The Pirates have their position group figured out, so it's less about who plays where, but rather, the batting order in which these players lineup at.
Pirates Opening Day Lineup vs. Mets (Prediction)
Player | Position | Batting Side |
|---|---|---|
Oneil Cruz | Center Field | Left |
Brandon Lowe | Second Base | Left |
Bryan Reynolds | Left Field | Switch |
Ryan O'Hearn | Right Field | Left |
Marcell Ozuna | Designated Hitter | Right |
Spencer Horwitz | First Base | Left |
Jared Triolo | Shortstop | Right |
Nick Gonzales | Third Base | Right |
Henry Davis | Catcher | Right |
The Pirates position groups are essentially set, with the outfield featuring Reynolds in left field, OCruz in center field and O'Hearn in right field, plus Ozuna as designated hitter.
The infield includes Horwitz at first base, Lowe at second base, Triolo at shortstop and Gonzales at third base, while Henry Davis is the catcher for starting pitcher Paul Skenes.
Cruz looks like he'll occupy the leadoff role for the Pirates, doing so for eight of his nine Spring Training starts. He also ledoff 60 times in 2025 for Pittsburgh and for almost two months straight from mid-April to late-June.
Having Cruz in the leadoff role allows the Pirates to rely less on his power and instead put him in positions to get on base, make some steals and score more runs.
The next four to five batters will bring the majority of the power for the Pirates, with Lowe batting second, Reynolds batting third, O'Hearn batting fourth, Ozuna batting fifth and Horwitz batting sixth.
Lowe hit in the second spot, eight of the nine times he started for the Pirates in Spring Training, which should keep him there for Opening Day. Reynolds started all 16 games in Spring Training at third in the lineup and O'Hearn always hit ahead of Ozuna in the lineup when they were together.
O'Hearn could fit in the second spot if Lowe is out, as he did in the Grapefruit League, but he'll hold the fourth spot with Lowe in this game.
Horwitz could fit in the sixth or seventh spot, but will bring some power and his strong batting performance from last season into either place.
The final three batters are Triolo in seventh, Gonzales in eighth and Davis in ninth, with all three the weaker hitters compared to the rest.
Pittsburgh could always place this trio in different spots, but it's likely they're all towards the bottom of the lineup, at least to start the season.
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.