Pirates Offense Has Great Bounceback Opportunity Coming Up
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates offense struggled in their latest series vs. the Miami Marlins at PNC Park, but they can rectify things quickly.
The Pirates head out west to face the Athletics at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, Calif., June 15-17, and then battle the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field, June 19-21, marking their second-to-final west coast road trip.
Pittsburgh scored just seven total runs against Miami went 3-for-24 and left 26 men on base during the series, with their top performers not producing the way they usually do.
Still, this road trip for the Pirates is a great opportunity for them to get their offense back on track and continue serving as one of the best in baseball in 2026.
Pirates Have Big Advantages on the Road
The Athletics and Rockies are two of the worst teams when it comes to home pitching, with other teams taking great advantage of them when on the road.
Colorado has the highest home ERA at 6.10 and allowed the second-most runs per game at Coors Field (6.41), while the Athletics have the second-highest home ERA (5.63) and most runs allowed per game at Sutter Health Park (6.43).
The Washington Nationals is the next team after those two, with the third-highest home ERA (5.17) and third-highest home runs allowed (6.00), but these are pretty sizable differences between the Rockies and Athletics.
Both the Rockies and Athletics faced off against each other this past weekend at Sutter Health Park, with the Rockies winning the series finale 23-9, setting a franchise-record for most runs scored, amassing 24 hits and six home runs.
Sutter Health Park is the home of the Sacramento River Cats, the Triple-A affiliate of the Athletics, who are in the process of moving from Oakland, Calif. to Las Vegas, Nev.
Left field is 330 feet and right field is 325 feet, while center field is 403 feet, which makes for ample home run opportunities to both corners, while center field is on average per most ball parks.
Athletics pitchers are also giving up a slash line of .290/.371/.502 for an OPS of .873 at home, compared to .231/.305/.382 for an OPS of .687 on the road.
Coors Field is the best hitter's ballpark, thanks in large part to Denver, Colo. sitting a mile above sea-level, which allows for a great deal of home runs and extra-base hits, thanks to lower air density at a high elevation.
Pittsburgh and Colrado had one of the wildest games last season at Coors Field on Aug. 1, 2025, with the Pirates holding leads of 9-0 and 15-6, before the Rockies came back and won 17-16.
The Rockies have less dramatic of home/road splits, as they aren't a great pitching team overall and struggle in that area for the most part, with the highest ERA (5.64), highest WHIP (1.52) and highest batting average allowed (BAA) (.288).
Colorado allows a home slash line of .296/.358/.505 for an OPS of .863 and a road slash line of .280/.349/.465 for an OPS of .814.
How Pirates Can Take Advantage of this Road Trip
Despite a poor weekend vs. the Marlins, the Pirates are one of the best hitting teams in baseball this season and hae shown it consistently.
Stat (Total) | NL/MLB Ranking |
|---|---|
Hits (626) | 3rd/3rd |
On-Base Percentage (.335) | 3rd/4th |
Walks (280) | 4th/6th |
Runs (359) | Tied-4th/Tied-4th |
OPS (.737) | 4th/Tied-6th |
RBI (342) | 5th/Tied-5th |
Total Bases (999) | 6th/9th |
Home Runs (85) | 6th/13th |
Batting Average (.252) | 6th/7th |
Slugging Percentage (.402) | 6th/11th |
Pittsburgh's offseason additions in slugger Ryan O'Hearn and second baseman Brandon Lowe have both had strong seasons from the plate, hitting home runs and driving in runs.
The Pirates have also seen players like outfield duo in Oneil Cruz and Bryan Reynolds rebound from poor showings in 2025, while Nick Gonzales and Spencer Horwitz have performed much better than expected.
Pittsburgh is without Cruz due to a left hand injury and rookie shortstop Konnor Griffin is rehabbing a forearm flexor sprain, working on his throwing program down in Bradenton, Fla.
It didn't help that O'Hearn, Lowe and Horwitz combined to go 3-for-37 from the plate vs. the Marlins, but that's an outlier on otherwise strong campaigns from the three players.
Losing top runs producers in Cruz and Griffin isn't easy and will require more from the Pirates' top hitters, but they've also had some better performances from the likes of Jake Mangum, Tyler Callihan and catcher Endy Rodríguez at the bottom of the order.
The Pirates are .500, 36-36 through 72 games so far and this road trip could be just what they needed, but they'll need the lineup to take advantage of what's in front of them.
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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.