What would make you check out on the Pirates 2026 season early?

Baseball is finally back as Spring Training has just begun this week and teams are reporting in to lay the groundwork for the upcoming season. In a lot of ways this is a new look Pittsburgh Pirates team on many levels. Even with the new look however I fear there may be some factors that would cause fans to tune out long before the All-Star break.

Poor team defense hampering the pitching rotation

The heart and soul of the Pirates is the pitching staff. The rotation of Paul Skenes, Mitch Keller, Bubba Chandler, Braxton Ashcraft and Jared Jones (eventually) is going to be what elevates this team in the win department. Pittsburgh’s offense was putrid last year, but luckily the organization has added plenty of pieces to help their lineup and offer some more run support for their pitching core.

The downside of adding to this offense is that the Pirates were not able to address any major defensive concerns. Since the Ke’Bryan Hayes trade there has not been another third baseman acquired by the club, leaving that spot to likely be played by Jared Triolo. However, there’s a chance that Triolo will have to play shortstop if phenom Konnor Griffin is not deemed ready for the majors following Spring Training, leaving a question mark at third if that’s the case. The outfield needed some depth added and the Pirates just didn’t sign anyone that moves the needle defensively.

Last season the great pitching rotation that the Pirates had was hampered by the lack of offensive output, and regularly lost close games because of the lack of runs. It will be a disaster if all the Pirates did this offseason is flip the equation on its head and causes the pitching staff to again be hampered by a lineup that doesn’t make the required plays to keep opposing runs in check. ESPN projected that the Pirates will win 80 games in 2026, citing that the team defense will hold this club back from reaching its full potential.

A lack of Konnor Griffin

An argument could be made that Konnor Griffin is the most exciting prospect for the Pirates since Barry Bonds. In his lone season of professional baseball he absolutely crushed it in the minor leagues and at just 19-years-old is in a position to be on Pittsburgh’s opening day roster.

Now if Griffin is not a part of the Pirates immediately following Spring Training, it’s not the end of the world. The organization notably did not elevate Paul Skenes past triple-a until May 11 his rookie year. Sometimes it’s just about seeing how a player adapts to the next level and giving them time to adjust. However, if the Pirates give Griffin the Bubba Chandler treatment I will stop tuning in.

Chandler was infamously not called up until August 22 last season. The top pitching prospect in baseball was stuck in triple-a for most of the year and when he was called up the Pirates were already way out of the playoff race and were obviously not in a position to compete. I understand the idea of maintaining team control as long as possible and earning that extra year of control over a player’s career, but when there is a generational star sulking in the minor leagues it shows that the organization is not serious about winning. Griffin is the real deal, and if he’s not on the Pirates before June 1 I’ll have lost my patience.

Same old same old

For the first time in franchise history, the Pirates are projected to have a payroll over $100 million with FanGraphs projected the team to have a payroll of $105 million. This still puts the team well in the bottom half of the league of total payroll. While the teams with the highest payroll doesn’t always win the World Series, it does at the very least show that the organizations at the top are willing to do whatever it takes to win.

Because of the questionable team culture from previous seasons, the Pirates missed out on marquee free agents like Kyle Schwarber and Eugenio Suarez. Even if the Pirates were willing to pay top dollar, they weren’t going to get top dollar talent because of the preconceived notions surrounding ownership. The same owner that traded away Andrew McCutchen in 2018. The same owner that did not build upon the core of the team that brought the Pirates back to the postseason after 20 straight losing seasons. The same owner that covered up Roberto Clemente’s number with a drink ad. The one constant in this recent history of the Pirates is Bob Nutting, who will be public enemy number one as long as he sits atop his ivory tower as the owner of Pittsburgh’s ball club.

I want to believe in this new era of Pirates’ baseball with Don Kelly at the helm, but having a general manager as average as Ben Cherington and an owner like Nutting makes me fear that nothing has really changed. Groundhog Day just passed, and there’s a real possibility that we will witness the same Pirates’s season that we’ve seen year after year now since the last postseason appearance 2015. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result. I’m already insane enough during the Steelers’ season, and I refuse to be driven insane during the Pirates’ season too.

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