It has been a long time since the Pittsburgh Pirates have been involved in so many offseason rumors.
They reportedly made a four-year, $120-million offer to slugger Kyle Schwarber before he re-signed with the Philadelphia Phillies and have been linked to other high-profile free agents. The Pirates have also been connected to many second basemen and outfielders in trade talks.
So far, there has been more talk than action. The only move the Pirates have made to boost the offense is acquiring outfielder prospect Jhostynxon Garcia from the Boston Red Sox in a trade, and he is unlikely to make an immediate impact in the major leagues next season.
Lost among all the rumors is the fact that the Pirates will need more than external options to fix an offense that finished last in MLB in runs scored, home runs, and OPS. Since it would be nearly impossible to replace everyone in the lineup, the Pirates are going to need some of the hitters already on the roster to improve in 2026. That job will fall to second-year hitting coach Matt Hague.
“We're always beating that up, and that's a daily basis thing,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said about internal improvement. “That's throughout the season, having different monthly goals as part of the process and then continuing after the season was over, reviewing '25. It's something that we do have to get better at offensively, continuing to have our guys get better as well as look to improve the club in any way possible.”
First baseman Spencer Horwtiz was the only Pirates’ hitter to have an OPS+ over 100 – MLB average – last season. Horwitz hit .272/.353/.434 with 11 home runs in 108 games. Two regulars, center fielder Oneil Cruz (87) and second baseman Nick Gonzales (84) were well below average.
Kelly was asked how he would like the offense’s identity to be defined in 2026. It is a tough question to answer following an awful season and with so many holes remaining in the lineup, but Kelly would like to see his hitters take a more patient approach.
“I think that what we talked about last year was, when we were really good, I thought we handled at-bats really well,” Kelly said. “We continued to pass the baton. I know it was something that when we had those stretches of being good offensively, it was we passed the baton, we got guys on base.
Then that two-out, that big hit is the thing that eluded us a lot of times. And finding a way to get guys in their comfort zone in those big moments to come up with a big hit. Easier said than done, but continuing to push towards that for next year.”