What Pirates Opening Day Loss Told Us—And What It Didn’t
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates have received praise for their offseason, but the start of this campaign wasn't what they wanted whatsoever.
The Pirates suffered an 11-7 defeat to the New York Mets at Citi Field on Opening Day on national television, with NBC making its first MLB broadcast in decades, as the baseball fans across the country witnessed a poor performance from the road team.
Pittsburgh, who prides itself on its pitching staff, gave up double digit runs in their first game, something they only did 10 times last year, and walked nine batters, tying their high from 2025.
This game served as a wake up call for the Pirates, who are now in the midst of a season they are aiming for postseason contention, but didn't showed what was needed in this defeat.
Paul Skenes Isn't Superhuman
If you told anyone before the game that the Pirates would score seven runs for a Paul Skenes start, they would've almost certainly believed that he would get the win and have a strong outing.
Skenes, instead, didn't make it out of the first inning, getting just two hits while allowing five earne runs and throwing 37 pitches.
It was a start that Skenes nor anyone else would've foreseen, as he posted a 1.96 ERA as a rookie in 2024 and 1.97 ERA in 2025, driving his career ERA up to 2.10 after this defeat.
Skenes wasn't entirely responsible, as center fielder Oneil Cruz made two poor defensive plays that resulted in four runs, but he also had issues with control, hitting a batter and walking two as well.
It will go down as his worst start, as this was the first time he hadn't made it out of the first inning or gotten at least two strikeouts and tied his career-high with five earned runs, but it's also not something that Pirates fans should expect from Skenes going forward.
Skenes had a great showing in the World Baseball Classic with Team USA, a 1.08 ERA over two starts, and put up two solid starts in Spring Training.
He also got a lot of weak contact and as long as he can go further than one inning in his next start, he should get the chance to settle in and fix on his control and get back to what made him the National League Cy Young Award winner in 2025.
Oneil Cruz's Defensive Issues Continue
Skenes may have performed poorly in the first inning, but Cruz may have upped him in that area.
Cruz made back-to-back terrible plays in center field, which resulted in four of the five runs scoring in that frame.
He started too far back to get up to a fly ball off of designated hitter Brett Baty, which sailed over his head for a bases-clearing triple. He then missed a routine fly out, misplacing the ball in the sun, as he was not wearing sunglasses, with Baty scoring as well.
Cruz is coming off a 2025 campaign where he was poor defensively in center field, with his -14 defensive saved (DRS) and -11 defensive runs saved above average ranking second worst at the position, according to FanGraphs.
He did get work with four-time Gold Glove Award winner Kevin Kiermaier this offseason, which should benefit him over the season, but it's a poor start from someone the Pirates need to excel in 2026.
Cruz must make this season the one he breaks through, but also, just simply make the plays he needs to in center field and support the pitching staff.
How Will Team Defense Shape Up in 2026?
While Cruz has had his issues in center field, the rest of the Pirates defense doesn't project well either.
The Pirates signed free agents Marcell Ozuna, who can only play designated hitter, and Ryan O'Hearn, who then had to move to right field, which pushed Bryan Reynolds to left field.
O'Hearn is a solid defensive first baseman, +4 defensive runs saved (DRS) and +6 outs above average (OAA), but the addition of Ozuna, who is solely a designated hitter, means he'll have to play right field, where he's posted -11 DRS and -3 OAA in his career, as Spencer Horwitz sticks at first base.
Reynolds moved to right field for the 2025 campaign after posting -5 DRS and -9 OAA in 2024 in left field, meaning he'll have to find a way to improve in his return to the other corner outfield spot.
The Pirates also added second baseman Brandon Lowe, who was the second worst defensive second baseman in 2025, with -10 DRS and -13 OAA.
Pittsburgh also has to see the left side of the infield work together, as Jared Triolo, a Gold Glove Award winner as a utility player, moves to shortstop and Nick Gonzales plays third base, which he made just one MLB start there prior to Opening Day.
The Pirates look like a poor defensive team from the outset, but they were fine outside of the Cruz mistakes. How they perform in the field will be the difference between a team that does or doesn't achieve their final goal of making the playoffs.
Bullpen Struggles Could Be Cause of Concern
The bullpen was a big part of the Pirates overall success as a pitching staff, helping them combine for 19 shutouts, most in MLB, and the seventh best ERA (3.76).
Pittsburgh needed a big bullpen game and while they got 25 outs, there were clear discrepencies between which pitchers performed well and which ones didn't.
Right-handed pitcher Yohan Ramírez threw 2.1 scoreless innings in relief of Skenes, allowing just a hit and a walk and posting three strikeouts.
Both left-handed pitcher Gregory Soto and right-handed pitcher Dennis Santana threw scoreless seventh and eighth innings, respectively, as both will serve big roles in the bullpen.
The Pirates main relief issues came in the middle innings, fourth-sixth, with left-handed pitcher Mason Montgomery and right-handed relief pitchers in Isaac Mattson and Justin Lawrence each giving up two earned runs for six runs totl.
Montgomery and Mattson struggled with control, while Lawrence gave up two easy back-to-back solo home runs.
These three arms are crucial for the Pirates' success this season and both Mattson and Lawrence were excellent in relief in 2025. Montgomery showed his velocity and stuff, but also walked three batters.
Pittsburgh will only make the postseason if they have a strong showing from their entire pitching staff and the bullpen most improve if they want that.
Pirates Offense Might Be Pretty Good
While the loss was pretty terrible for the Pirates overall, they did still score seven runs, something they only did more than 22 times in 2025.
The Pirates' new additions came through, with Lowe hitting two home runs for three RBI in his first two at-bats and O'Hearn adding a solo home run for five RBI.
The Pirates' offseason additions were focused on improving a lineup that was amongst the worst in most hitting statistical categories, which included Lowe, O'Hearn and Ozuna.
Pittsburgh wanted more home runs this season and if Lowe and O'Hearn, plus Ozuna, can all show that in 2026, they'll surely get that and more.
Are There Other Pirates Contributors in the Lineup?
The Pirates will need more than just the new guys to bring in runs this season and there were some players on Opening Day that did and some that didn't
Pittsburgh got a surprising RBI-double from catcher Henry Davis, who has struggled massively from the plate in his MLB career, plus a two-run RBI-double from third baseman Nick Gonzales.
Gonzales had two hits in four at-bats in the eighth spot and Davis getting one hit in every four at-bats would be massive for the Pirates going forward.
The only other players that got hits in the game were Cruz, Triolo and Reynolds and no one walked in this game either.
Pittsburgh will need much better offense if they are going to actually make the postseason and will need it from their returning players too.
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.