The Pittsburgh Pirates have officially been eliminated from the playoffs.
Ever since the start of last offseason, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ primary goal has been clear: get to the playoffs during the 2026 season.
All of the front office’s moves over the last calendar year reflect that, including trading for Brandon Lowe, signing Ryan O’Hearn, being one of the more aggressive teams at the trade deadline, and adding several back-end relievers.
All of those moves helped upgrade Pittsburgh’s roster, but in the end, even they weren’t enough to help the Pirates reach their ultimate goal.
Even though the Pirates won their contest against the Kansas City Royals on Friday evening, Pittsburgh was still eliminated from postseason contention after the San Diego Padres won. The Pirates now face 11 straight seasons without playoff baseball in the city.
Aug 24, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates manager Don Kelly (12) talks with first baseman Spencer Horwitz (2) during the seventh inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn ImagesEven though this October will be the same for the Pirates as the last decade- no baseball- what makes this season feel different is that Pittsburgh looked like a playoff-caliber team for a chunk of the season.
Heading into the All-Star Break, the Pirates not only held a 50-47 record, but they also had one of the best offenses in baseball. What was once Pittsburgh's biggest weakness suddenly became one of its biggest strengths.
The issue was that the Pirates couldn’t sustain this level of success.
In the second half of the season, Pittsburgh posted a record under .500, including a 10-15 stretch in August. This four-week stretch is really where everything started to slip away for Pittsburgh.
Along with the fading record, the Pirates also sustained injuries to some of their most important players, including Oneil Cruz, Konnor Griffin, Spencer Horwitz, Mitch Keller, and now Baxton Ashcraft and Esmerlyn Valdez.
Pittsburgh may not be the most injured team in baseball when looking at games missed, but it’s hard to deny that it was hard to make up for the high-impact players who were out for extended periods of time.
With all that said, the Pirates do deserve some credit for how they've finished the season. Being almost 5.0 games back of the Wild Card at the beginning of the month could have been an excuse to check out, but the Pirates clearly have done that; it's just a little too late.
With the Pirates officially eliminated, the front office's focus now shifts to the offseason and what the team needs to do to improve so they’re not in the same position in 2027.
