How Are the Pittsburgh Pirates Turning the Tide?

Apr 7, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes (30) delivers a pitch against the San Diego Padres during the first inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Throughout professional sports, there’s always a handful of teams that act as laughing stocks within their respective leagues.

The Cleveland Browns haven’t won a division since 1989 and have gone on a streak of finishing last in their division for 13 of 15 years. The Charlotte Hornets have had four winning seasons from 2004 to 2024.

For the last 45 years, the Pittsburgh Pirates have been the laughing stock of Major League Baseball. The Pirates won their last World Series in 1979, and have only made the postseason three times in the last 33 years.

Owner Bob Nutting has been bashed by Pittsburgh fans since spiraling the team into irrelevance over the last decade. It’s gotten so bad that the Bucs faithful have resorted to buying billboards, using aerial advertising, and even making a fundraising website, “Our team, not his,” just to push Nutting out of office.

That said, over recent years, perhaps the front office wasn’t just sitting idly by and making no efforts to improve the team. They were just waiting for the right time.

The Pirates brought out their most dangerous, youthful roster in recent years to the field in 2026. They have the blueprint for a powerful lineup and a maturing rotation to turn the tide and potentially make a run to the playoffs.

Young Starting Pitching

A 100-loss season in 2022 turned out to be a blessing in disguise, gifting Pittsburgh one of the best pitchers alive. The first overall selection of Paul Skenes in 2023 was a rare hit for the club’s first-round drafting.

Since Nutting took office, in the 30 total first-round picks they’ve taken, about four have hit. Since 2022, 11 have under a one career WAR. However, using later round picks, they’ve slowly developed a starting rotation to compete once the team is ready to contend.

Anchored around Skenes, the rest of Pittsburgh’s rotation is homegrown, and it’s slowly coming to fruition. 30-year-old Mitch Keller has had roughly the same season over since 2022. What he lacks in run deterrence, he makes up for in consistency. Keller has made over 31 starts in each of the last three years and routinely charts over 160 innings.

Following Braxton Ashcraft’s major league debut last year, 23-year-old Bubba Chandler arrives as the final piece to this rotation. Chandler was taken in the third round of the 2021 draft and was a top 15 prospect last season.

His individual pitches are tremendous — with a 99-mile-per-hour fastball and well-above-average changeup — but it’s putting it together that’s slowing him down. Chandler walked 10 batters in his first two starts of 2025, having to over-rely on his fastball early on.

No matter what, the Bucs are getting a start from Skenes every five days. If Keller can bring down his ERA by half a run and Chandler starts to fine-tune his accuracy, the league could be seeing a top-five rotation very soon.

Fresh Batting Lineup

Before this offseason, the Pirates absurdly hadn’t signed a free agent to a multi-year contract in 10 years. Not only did the franchise consistently miss on first-round picks, but they stayed painfully dormant in free agency for years.

That was until they signed Ryan O’Hearn to a two-year, $29 million deal in January. An additional $10.9 million deal for Marcell Ozuna and an early trade for Brandon Lowe replenished this offense heading into 2026.

Through 12 games, the additions of O’Hearn and Lowe have paid off, with eight combined home runs. Manager Don Kelly has used a rotation of designated hitters, only using Ozuna every other day while sprinkling in O’Hearn, Lowe and outfielder Bryan Reynolds.

However, nobody is talking about their new acquisitions or center fielder Oneil Cruz and his powerful start. They’re talking about a 19-year-old already worth $140 million, the centerpiece of Pittsburgh’s next era.

The Future

Meet shortstop Konnor Griffin, baseball’s No. 1 overall prospect, who made his major league debut on April 3. He’s projected to be the sport’s next premier five-tool player, excelling in contact hitting, power hitting, speed, fielding and throwing.

Nutting and the Pirates swiftly protected Griffin and signed him to a nine-year contract on Wednesday for $140 million.

“There’s no question that he makes a team better right now, which is remarkable,” Nutting said. “The entire city feels urgency to be able to build on the base and perform … [he’s] a fresh anchor as we go forward.”

So, what’s to feel about the future besides excitement? Pittsburgh’s front office has finally woken up, capitalizing on young talent and complementing it in free agency. The Pirates are 9-6 to start the year and have their young pair of superstars locked down for a while, right?

“Super happy for him and his family, glad he got a deal that works for him,” Skenes said on Griffin’s extension. “He’s going to be the face of the Pirates for a long time.”

The Bucs only have Skenes under contract for the next three years. Excluding himself as the future face of the franchise leads us to believe 2029 will be his last year with the organization. Not to mention the offseason drama of him apparently wanting to play for the New York Yankees, it feels like their relationship will end before the turn of the decade.

That said, it appears Nutting the Bucs will be going all in while they have the chance. However, their dream of seeing a Skenes start in the postseason now feels like a deadline. We can only wonder if this era of Pirates baseball will be mourned within the fanbase because it failed, or grateful because it happened.

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