No team scored less often in 2025 than the Pirates. Of course, that wasn’t anything new. Since Pittsburgh’s playoff drought began in 2016, only one team, the Marlins, has scored fewer runs. The 2016 season was the last time the Bucs ranked among the top half of NL teams in scoring, while 2018 was the last time they finished a season with an OPS above the NL average. In recent years, the easiest way to sound like a broken record in Pirates circles was to ask when the team was going to give their talented young pitchers the kind of run support they deserved.
Through 61 games in 2026, it’s starting to sound like Ben Cherington and Co. have finally taken that broken vinyl off the player. The Pirates rank among the league’s top eight in all three triple-slash categories (BA, OBP, & SLG), as well as walks, wOBA, xwOBA, OPS, and wRC+. They also lead the majors in stolen base success rate, while their 61 steals rank third. Most importantly, all of that hitting, walking, and running is helping them drive runs across the plate. Pittsburgh is averaging 5.1 runs per contest, fifth in MLB.
The team’s top producers have been a nice combination of homegrown heroes and shiny new toys. Bryan Reynolds, the longest-tenured Pirate, leads the team with a .403 on-base percentage; among qualified outfielders, only Mike Trout and James Wood have reached base at a higher rate. Acquired in the 2018 Andrew McCutchen trade, Reynolds broke out as a star in 2019 and ’21, his first two full seasons. However, his next few years were more good than great, and his 2025 campaign was genuinely disappointing; he saw his wRC+ dip below league average, while his .157 isolated power (ISO) was the lowest of his career. He hardly resembled the middle-of-the-order bat who convinced a famously stingy organization to open the purse strings and sign him to the largest contract in franchise history (at the time) a few years back. Through the first two months of 2026, Reynolds looks like that kind of player again. His power numbers are still down, but he’s compensating with discipline. He walked 57 times in 2025, 57 times in 2024, 53 times in 2023, and 56 times in 2022. This year, the switch-hitter has already drawn 44 free passes, and Pittsburgh has 101 games left to play. Add in his four hit-by-pitches, and he’s on pace to stroll to first base nearly 130 times in 2026; his previous career-high is 83. All told, the offensive production is right up there with that of his best years: an .835 OPS and a 138 wRC+.
While Reynolds is bringing the walks, another resurgent veteran is bringing the power. Brandon Lowe, acquired in a three-team trade this winter, leads the club in home runs, extra-base hits, and wRC+. His 15 long balls are tied for fourth in the National League. If he keeps hitting them at this rate, he’ll be the Pirates’ first 40-homer hitter since Willie Stargell in 1973, and it isn’t unrealistic to think he can pull that off. Lowe has always had big power, but frequent injuries have held him back; he hit 31 home runs in 134 games last year and 39 in 149 games in 2021. The fact that PNC Park isn’t very homer-friendly hasn’t hurt him either. Instead, it’s helped him hit 12 doubles, putting him on pace for a new career-high in total bases and extra-base hits.
There’s no one Reynolds or Lowe has driven in more often than Oneil Cruz, who leads the Pirates in runs scored and RBI. Cruz is a flawed player. He’s struck out in more than one-third of his trips to the plate, and he drives too many balls straight into the ground. The thing is, those flaws are almost trivial when the 6-foot-7 Cruz is making the most of his ridiculous strength and speed. His 119-mph double from April 16 remains the hardest batted ball any player has hit this year – and that’s still nearly 4 mph slower than Cruz’s personal best (which is also the Statcast-era record). In 2026, Cruz has taken advantage of having the third-fastest average swing speed and the highest hard-hit rate in baseball to smack 14 home runs, just seven back of his career high. He is also tied for third in MLB with 19 stolen bases in 22 attempts. That makes him the only player on pace for a 30-30 season.
In many ways, Spencer Horwitz is the anti-Cruz. The 5-foot-10 first baseman doesn’t run well, swing fast, or hit the ball hard. Yet, only 10 qualified hitters have a lower swing-and-miss rate, and only four have a higher walk-to-strikeout ratio. Thanks to his high-contact approach, Horwitz ranks third on the Pirates with an .843 OPS and a 137 wRC+. And while he doesn’t have as long a track record as many of his teammates, he owns a shockingly impressive 146 wRC+ since last year’s All-Star break. Only five qualified NL batters are ahead of him in that time: Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto, Kyle Schwarber, Brice Turang, and Corbin Carroll. The catch is that the Pirates have done everything in their power to shield the lefty-batting Horwitz from same-handed pitching. Nearly 87% of his plate appearances over the last two years have come against right-handers, and he owns a career .561 OPS and 66 wRC+ without the platoon advantage. Nonetheless, he has proven incredibly valuable, even with his limitations. It seems like the Pirates knew exactly what they were doing when they acquired him in (essentially) another three-team trade two offseasons ago.
Speaking of righty mashers, Ryan O’Hearn returned from a brief stint on the injured list over the weekend, and he celebrated with a home run off a right-hander in his first at-bat back. The two-year, $29MM deal O’Hearn signed over the winter represented the largest guarantee the franchise has ever given to a free agent hitter. While a contract like that wouldn’t count as a big swing for most teams, it was for the Pirates. So far, it’s looking like they picked the right player to take that swing on. With eight home runs in 46 games, O’Hearn is tracking to surpass 20 for the first time. His .845 OPS and 136 wRC+ would also be his best marks in both categories since his 44-game rookie season in 2018. The Pirates haven’t protected O’Hearn from southpaws the same way they have for Horwitz, so they must be hoping he’ll improve on his .669 OPS and 84 wRC+ against lefty pitching. Even if he doesn’t, his numbers against righties make it easy to overlook his same-handed shortcomings.
The Pirates’ platoon issues go beyond any individual player. Their offense has been relentless against right-handed pitching, but unfortunately, they still have to face left-handers about 30% of the time. With lefties on the mound, the Pirates have a middling .690 OPS and 94 wRC+. Reynolds is doing just fine, and the lefty-batting Cruz has reverse platoon splits, but Lowe, Horwitz, and O’Hearn have struggled to do much damage. That’s compounded by the fact that none of the right-handed hitters in the lineup have stepped up to mash southpaws. Designated hitter Marcell Ozuna, another offseason signing, is showing his 35 years at the plate, while third baseman Nick Gonzales has had most of his success against righties. The good news for the Pirates is that they have at least one righty bat they can count on a whole lot more from.
Konnor Griffin was widely considered the top prospect in baseball entering the season. No one understood the hype better than the Pirates themselves, who agreed to a $140MM extension with their star rookie just a few days into his MLB career. Through 208 PA, Griffin has a modest .729 OPS and 104 wRC+, with roughly even platoon splits. However, he was still finding ways to be a major contributor to Pittsburgh’s offense before he hit the IL over the weekend. (He has a flexor tendon strain, and he isn’t expected to miss much time.) The lightning-fast 20-year-old is 14-for-15 in stolen bases, and he leads the majors in the FanGraphs baserunning metric, BsR. Thus, despite his pedestrian performance at the plate, he has already scored 30 runs in 51 games. If he taps into more of his potential, he can help protect against regression from some of his teammates, and Pittsburgh’s platoon splits should start to even out.
The Pirates haven’t had an offensive core like this in a long time. Lowe, Reynolds, Horwitz, and O’Hearn all rank among the top 20 qualified NL batters in wRC+. In the last decade, only one Pittsburgh hitter – Reynolds in 2021 – has finished a season with a wRC+ high enough to crack the NL’s top 20. Meanwhile, Cruz is on pace to score more runs than any Pirates hitter since Brian Giles in 2001, and he’s hoping to join Barry Bonds as just the second player to go 30-30 in franchise history. Then there’s Griffin, who has the tools to be the organization’s biggest position player star since McCutchen.
This team isn’t without its problems. The Pirates would make the playoffs if the season ended today, but it doesn’t. They have to show they can keep this up for another four months. To do that, they need their veterans to stay hot, their young guys to take the next step, and Endy Rodríguez to finally prove he can be the answer behind the plate. Yet, as early as it still is in the season, there’s something about this version of the Pirates that truly feels different. For the first time in a long time, the Pirates have an offense.
Images courtesy of Charles LeClaire and Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images.
