The Pittsburgh Pirates’ offensive identity wasn’t very good last season.
The Pirates were last in the major leagues in runs scored, home runs, and RBIs. Not surprisingly, they finished in last place in the National League Central with a 71-91 record.
General manager Ben Cherington has taken steps to upgrade the offense this winter. He has traded with the Tampa Bay Rays for second baseman Brandon Lowe and outfielder Jake Mangum and acquired outfield prospect Jhonstynxon Garcia in a deal with the Boston Red Sox.
So, the Pirates should be better offensively in 2026. However, they are not going to bludgeon opposing pitchers into submission with power hitting. Manager Don Kelly believes his team will need to play a certain style of baseball to improve this upcoming season.
“I think the one thing as I've thought about last year and going forward, is continuing to be aggressive, finding ways to push the envelope in ways, playing baseball effectively, running the bases effectively to make sure we're doing everything we can to find ways to win,” Kelly said.
The Pirates had 115 stolen bases last season, which ranked 15th among the 30 MLB teams. Center fielder Oneil Cruz led the NL with 38 stolen bases despite hitting .200 with a .298 on-base percentage. However, the Pirates were 26th in FanGraphs baserunning runs metric, costing themselves 5.7 runs on the bases.
The Milwaukee Brewers are the team everyone in the NL Central is chasing after winning the division title each of the past three seasons. Like the Pirates, the Brewers’ lineup is not loaded with power hitters, and their 166 homers last season were just 22nd in the big leagues.
However, the Brewers’ .332 OBP ranked third, 27 points higher than the Pirates’ .305 mark, which ranked 24th. The Brewers also led the majors in baserunning runs with 15.0. And the Pirates were seventh in MLB in strikeouts, while the Brewers were 26th.
So, the Pirates have some catching up to do to match the Brewers’ offensive identity.
“The at-bats they put up are really good,” Kelly said of the Brewers. “That's something we challenge our guys on, too, is continuing to put up good at-bats, fight with two strikes, continue to put the ball in play. As you continue to see the development with your guys -- it's something which the Brewers have done a good job of -- it's hard to mix sometimes and have that kind of ability to make contact and drive the baseball, which is tough.
“For us to continue to work with our guys and an offensive approach and an offensive identity of having tough at-bats."