The Pittsburgh Pirates have a key roster issue that they will need to deal with this coming offseason.
The Pittsburgh Pirates saw their win streak halted on Wednesday against the St. Louis Cardinals, falling to their division rivals 5-1.
Cardinals starter Matthew Liberatore was able to shut down the Pirates offense, going 5.2 innings. The left-hander allowed just six hits and one run against Pittsburgh, continuing a problematic trend for the Pirates.
This season, the Pirates have heavily struggled against left-handed starters. Pittsburgh has performed the worse in the league against lefties, and this will be an area that the front office will have to correct this offseason.
For the season, the Pirates have hit just .229 with 3.82 runs per game against left-handers. Pittsburgh owns a record of 18-33 against left-handed starters, showing a real problem in the lineup.
In addition, the Pirates rank last in the league in on-base percentage (.300) and slugging percentage (.359) against left-handers. They have also been very poor in terms of batting average, and their strikeout percentage is the second-worst in the league at 25.6 percent.
Pirates manager Don Kelly wants this key statistic to improve heading into the 2027 season. Kelly understands that this has been a real Achilles heel issue for the team, but he is hopeful that they will fix the problem.
Two bright spots for the Pirates in this area come from Oneil Cruz and rookie sensation Konnor Griffin, both of which performed well against left-handers this year. Cruz has hit .323 against lefties this season, while Griffin has hit .313 in just 80 at-bats.
Both Cruz and Griffin missed time due to injury this season, and this could have played into the overall struggles of the team. But if each player were to keep up the strong hitting against left-handers heading into next season, this could be one way for the Pirates to fix the problem.
For the Pirates, getting this issue correct this offseason could be the difference between making the playoffs next year and having another season without the postseason. Pittsburgh was much more competitive this year, but they just couldn't do enough to get over the hump.
The last time that the Pirates made the playoffs was in the 2015 season, seeing a long drought for this organization take place. But this group is confident in themselves, and the future remains very bright for the Pirates.
This offseason is going to be one of the most important in recent memory for the Pirates. And if this front office can get the right pieces in place, the playoffs could be well within the cards for Pittsburgh next season.
