Ryan O'Hearn Sees Great Potential in Pirates Future
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates failed to meet their main goal this season, but slugger Ryan O'Hearn isn't letting that stop his optimism.
O'Hearn had an RBI single to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead in the sixth inning of their eventual 2-0 shutout of the St. Louis Cardinals at PNC Park on Sept. 22.
It gave the Pirates their fifth-straight win, tying the team's longest streak this season, and improved them to 80-77 with just five games left.
The Pirates won't play in the postseason, but O'Hearn is confident in what they can achieve in 2027.
O'Hearn Sees Bright Future in Pittsburgh
The Pirates signed O'Hearn last offseason to a two-year, $29 million deal, keeping him through the 2027 campaign.
It was an important signing for the Pirates, as O'Hearn represented their first multi-year free agent signing since 2016, showing a commitment from the front office they hadn't shown in almost a decade.
O'Hearn and the Pirates had good moments this season, but he joined the team to make the postseason, so not doing so is a disappointment.
Despite not making the playoffs, with injuries hurting the Pirates this season, O'Hearn sees great things for this franchise heading into the future.
"Of course. But it's shoulda, coulda, woulda," O'Hearn said. "It's a hypothetical place to be. Obviously, you wish that you stay completely healthy all year long, and that's not the case."
"But I will say this: this definitely feels like a group to build off of. I'm not the GM; I don't make those decisions in the offseason, but it definitely feels like a group that's building together moving forward. Doesn't feel like the end. I've been on teams where it kind of felt like the end of an era-type thing, but this definitely feels like a team that you want to build forward with."
Why O'Hearn Might Be Right About 2027
The Pirates have a strong lineup, when healthy, which was one of the best in baseball prior to the All-Star break.
O'Hearn is surrounded by the likes of outfielders Bryan Reynolds, Oneil Cruz and Esmerlyn Valdez, plus shortstop Konnor Griffin, second baseman Brandon Lowe, first baseman Spencer Horwitz and third baseman Nick Gonzales.
The Pirates haven't had their lineup together for most of the season, with O'Hearn, Cruz, Griffin, Horwitz, and catcher Endy Rodríguez missing substantial time injured.
Pittsburgh fell out of the National League Wild Card race in August and got eliminated from the postseason last weekend, but the drive is still there for the team.
Cruz and Griffin have made big improvements since coming back, while Lowe has been the Pirates' best player this season and could do so again if they re-sign him.
O'Hearn has been most impressed with how the Pirates have played this month, 13-6 and not giving up, even with no postseason for them to play for, crediting manager Don Kelly's leadership.
"Guys are playing hard, no doubt about it," O'Hearn said. It would be easy for guys to be like, ‘Well, we didn't make it,’ and kind of pack it in and just go through the motions, but that's not the nature of this group.
"I think Donnie's done a great job of kind of instilling that in guys, just the competitiveness. It's just who we are: we compete. Obviously sucks that we won't be playing in October, but we definitely want to finish on a strong note.
The Pirates have a 1-0 mentality for every game, something Kelly instilled in them after a poor loss to the Miami Marlins at loanDepot Park on Aug. 12, where he felt the team wasn't competing the way they had done.
This loss came during a poor stretch for the Pirates, who lost seven straight series and went 7-16 from late July to mid-August, which destroyed their postseason chances.
O'Hearn, who suffered a left quad injury during the slump, noticed that his teammates still kept fighting and that it's something they need for next season to weather any tough stretches.
'Yeah, any loss has definitely not been for a lack of will or want to," O'Hearn said. "There's been none of that on this team all year, which I'm proud to be a part of that group. It's a group of guys that likes to compete and we want to win."
"There's been some games that I can think of, times where it would be easy to pack it in — not necessarily pack it in, but not have that same motivation. But it's just not the nature of the guys in here. So pretty cool. Something to definitely hang our hat on moving forward. Maybe that's our identity."
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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.