Two Areas Pirates Must Improve In 2026

It's hard enough to win in the MLB, but the Pittsburgh Pirates only make things harder on themselves. After finishing the 2025 season with yet another team batting average under .240 and scoring the fewest runs in the majors, it's clear where Pittsburgh needs to put its attention.

Thankfully for Pirates fans, they went out and got a pair of bats in the offseason. Pittsburgh may not be done just yet, but adding Brandon Lowe and Ryan O'Hearn at least shows they're trying to get better, which is all these fans have asked for.

The impending signing of Kazuma Okamoto could make things interesting, but the Japanese sensation needs to put pen to paper before fans can truly get their hopes up.

There are still a lot of moving pieces in this lineup, but Pittsburgh's mission for 2026 is clear. As simple as it sounds, they need to get their batting average up and score more runs.

Pirates Pitchers Need Run Support

Pirates SP Paul Skene — Sep 16, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes (30) delivers a pitch against the Chicago Cubs during the first inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Paul Skenes won the Cy Young award with a 10-10 record and that says everything you need to know about this Pirates team. His 1.97 ERA was terrific and he did everything in his power to lead this time to victory every time he stepped foot on the mound.

ESPN touched on a key number for this Pirates squad: 583. That's the number of runs they scored in 2025, which was the fewest in the majors. Keep in mind, they were just one of two teams to finish the year with fewer than 600 runs.

The World Series winning Los Angeles Dodgers finished second with 825, while the New York Yankees led the way with 849. Ultimately, that means the Pirates and Colorado Rockies combined had just 331 more runs than the Yankees. Saying that's far from ideal may be an understatement.

Batting Average Must Increase

Pirates 1B Spencer Horwit — Sep 26, 2025; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates first base Spencer Horwitz (2) celebrates hitting a home run against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the seventh inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images | Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images

With their .231 team batting average, it marks another bottom three finish for this Pirates team. Shockingly, the Rockies weren't in the bottom three. Instead, it was the Cleveland Guardians (.226) and Los Angeles Angels (.225).

David Schoenfield just had to point out this team's batting average for the past few years: .220, .236, .222, .239, .234, and .231. While their average wasn't 2020 or 2022 bad, it's still been trending in the wrong direction these last three years. Now that they've added a pair of quality bats, and potentially a third on the way, it's safe to assume that number could end up in the .240-.250 range.

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