Three Major Questions for Pirates in 2026
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates begin their season against the New York Mets on March 26, one where they're looking to finally become a competitive team after years of losing.
The Pirates have missed the postseason the past 10 years and not won more games than lost in a year in more than seven years. They are also coming off a disappointing campaign, where they finished 71-91 overall, last in their division, the fifth worst record in baseball and dismissed manager Derek Shelton after a 12-26 start.
Pittsburgh's front office, with general manager Ben Cherington at the helm, have gone after new additions, mostly in the lineup, but focusing on fixing depth and improving the team overall.
The Pirates now have a roster that could potentially becoming a winning outfit, but they'll have to answer a few questions first before doing so.
1. Will Oneil Cruz Finally Breakout?
Oneil Cruz has been one of the Pirates younger stars for a few seasons now, but time is running out on the 27-year old to reach his true potential.
There's few players that are athletic or as strong as Cruz, who hit the hardest home run in the Statcast era (since 2015), and also threw the second hardest throw home in the Statcast era as well. He also has incredible speed at 6-foot-7 and tied for the National League lead with 38 steals in 2025.
He also was terrible at the plate for most of the season, with his .200 batting average the worst for any qualified hitter in baseball.
Adding on to his struggles was his poor center field play, with -14 defensive runs saved (DRS) and -11 defensive runs saved above average, which ranked as the second-worst amongst center fielders last season.
Cruz has addressed this problems, working on facing left-handed pitching in Spring Training and also working out with four-time Gold Glove Award winner Kevin Kiermaier, who also played center field.
The Pirates need Cruz to get on base more often, as his baserunning and steals give them more chances to score runs and get wins with a strong pitching staff.
Cruz doesn't need to have an MVP season, but he must become more efficient at the plate and in center field.
He has some added help in lineup with the likes of Ryan O'Hearn, Marcell Ozuna and Brandon Lowe, but Cruz, himself, must show improvement and become a key part of the offense/defense in 2026.
2. Can Pitching Staff Maintain or Improve Upon 2025?
The Pirates were terrible from the plate in 2025, but performed well as a pitching staff and kept the team in games they normally would've lost.
Pittsburgh allowed the third least home runs (153), the fourth lowest WHIP (1.22), the seventh lowest team ERA (3.76), the seventh least walks (473) and the eighth lowest opposing batting average (.236), while their 19 shutouts ranked the most in all of baseball.
The Pirates have some surefire arms in NL Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes and Mitch Keller in the starting rotation, plus Dennis Santana in the bullpen, but there are concerns over the other names.
Rookies in Braxton Ashcraft and Bubba Chandler were impressive to watch in 2025 and could become aces in this rotation this season. They could also falter, with Ashcraft's extensive injury history and Chandler still working on his control as a major league pitcher.
Carmen Mlodzinski has been incredible in the bullpen, but he's now a starting pitcher, where he posted a 5.67 ERA in nine starts last season before going to the minors and resuming his relief role.
Some of the other bullpen arms have been great, but year two is always tough. This includes Isaac Mattson, who starred in 2025 in high-leverage situations, and Justin Lawrence, who had a 0.79 ERA in 11 starts, but also missed almost five months with injury last year.
New left-handed pitcher additions in Mason Montgomery and Gregory Soto are both hard throwers and have good velocity, but both also have had higher ERAs (5.67 and 4.18, respectively), that they must bring down.
Left-handed rookie pitcher Hunter Barco has just three innings under him at the major league level and right-handed pitcher José Urquidy hasn't pitched a full MLB season since 2023.
The Pirates have the arms needed, but they must also show that they can not only continue what they did in 2025, but get better in 2026 to compete for a spot in the playoffs.
3. How Will Defense Hold Up Through the Season?
Pittsburgh made great offensive additions this offseason, but they come at the price of a worse defense than they've had in recent years.
The outfield is the biggest place for concern, not just with Cruz, but also with Bryan Reynolds moving back to left field and O'Hearn taking over in right field.
Reynolds moved to right field for 2025 after a poor defensive showing in left field in 2024, including -5 DRS and -9 outs above average (OAA) and now will have to find a way to show improvements there in 2026.
O'Hearn's best defensive position is first base, where he posted +4 DRS and +6 OAA, but the addition of Ozuna, who is solely a designated hitter, he'll have to play right field, where he's posted -11 DRS and -3 OAA in his MLB career.
Lowe hit the most home runs for any second baseman in 2025 with 31, but also was the second worst defensive second baseman, with -10 DRS and -13 OAA.
Jared Triolo, a Gold Glove Award winner as a utility player, will play shortstop to start the season, somewhere he's been fine at defensively.
He's performed better at third base, but Nick Gonzales and Nick Yorke will take over at the position, neither of whom have played much there in their professional career, let alone in the major leagues.
The Pirates should eventually get some help from top prospect Konnor Griffin at shortstop, who won an MiLB Gold Glove Award in 2025, who is starting the season at Triple-A Indianapolis. Triolo would then move back to third base following Griffin's promotion, making for a strong left side of the infield.
Pittsburgh has improved their offense, but can they hit well enough to offset a likely poor defense in 2026?
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.