Jason Mackey: Pirates midpoint assessment, superlatives and questions for second half

The Pirates certainly packed a lot into a short amount of time.

They arrived at the midpoint of the season with a 41-40 record after Thursday’s 5-1 victory over the Mariners at PNC Park, which also happened to be Don Kelly’s 100th as Pirates manager.

Further irony: They did it with the bullpen wobbling but not falling over, Henry Davis homering and the other team struggling to hit with runners in scoring position.

Like I said, straight lines and simple narratives have no place here.

“We need to play better in order to get to where we want to go,” Kelly said. “We’re in a good spot. But we’re not there yet.”

With that in mind, let’s examine we’ve seen through 81 games and ponder some key questions for the second half:

Surprise division

• The Pirates had baseball’s worst offense in baseball in 2025. This season, it’s been among the best. Definitely didn’t have that on the preseason Bingo card.

Among some of the pertinent rankings:

Runs — 409 (3rd)
Hits — 720 (1st)
Batting — .257 (3rd)
OPS — .746 (3rd)

• I wouldn’t call their performances a surprise, but the offseason acquisitions of Brandon Lowe and Ryan O’Hearn have bucked recent trends.

Trading Mike Burrows for Lowe, Jake Mangum and Mason Montgomery feels a little like the inverse of the Chris Archer deal, while O’Hearn (.804 OPS, 120 wRC+) has delivered on the two-year, $29 million deal he signed over the winter.

• We knew Braxton Ashcraft was a talented young pitcher. But this? He’s been elite, a fringe All-Star guy. Ashcraft is 7-3 with a 3.07 ERA and 107 strikeouts in 96 2/3 innings. The right-hander has challenged Paul Skenes for the Pirates’ top first-half pitching performance. Undoubtedly their No. 2 starter.

• Amid the bullpen turbulence, Evan Sisk (1.80 in 30 games) has actually been very good.

• Third base was an offensive black hole for the Pirates in 2025. Players who manned that spot had a collective 57 wRC+ (100 is considered league average), while the teams tied for 28th were at 73. This season, Nick Gonzales (.297) has helped bump the Pirates to 12th at 96.

• That Konnor Griffin has become a hugely important part of this team and organization … no, not surprised. But this good this young? Certainly impressed.

Disappointment division

• When the Pirates signed Marcell Ozuna to a $12 million free agent deal, they thought it would lead to a lot of power, taking the offense to another level. That has happened, but Ozuna has had little to do with it, hitting just .201 with a .597 OPS and 25 RBI in 54 games. Great veteran. Just hasn’t been terribly productive.

• The bullpen was supposed to be a strength of this team. Instead, it’s been the most glaring weakness, though it has been better lately. The Mariners series represented the first series where this group hasn’t allowed a run (9 1/3 inning).

• Justin Lawrence, who was expected to be one of the Pirates’ primary setup men, had a 5.32 ERA before he was designated for assignment.

• This started to turn in West Sacramento, but Mitch Keller (4.89 ERA) didn’t have a strong first half. It’s also weird because he had a 2.85 ERA May 1. But over the next seven starts, Keller pitched to a 7.75 ERA, while his control and willingness or ability to challenge hitters waned. Wouldn’t it be something if Keller flipped his first and second halves in 2026?

• Thursday creates some recency bias, but the same as many of you, I thought this would be the year Henry Davis (.148) finally started hitting consistently, with power. That hasn’t happened. However, his at-bats Thursday were solid. Need it to continue.

Superlative division

• Most valuable player: Bryan Reynolds. Easiest thing I’ll type here. Has played in all 81 games. Slashing .291/.405/.484 with 19 doubles, 11 homers and 52 RBIs. Ranks second in the National League in on-base percentage, eighth in OPS (.889). We’re seeing the return of 2021 Reynolds, who has actually gotten a lot better defensively, too.

• Most valuable pitcher: Still going Skenes. Love what Ashcraft has done. But the win-loss stuff and fastball velocity — both paint incomplete pictures, if you ask me — have obfuscated another elite year: 2.86 ERA, 107 strikeouts in 88 innings, 0.93 WHIP and .199 batting average against. If Skenes doesn’t have some wretched defensive at times behind him, this discussion looks different.

• Best game: The one and only tie on this list. In one corner, we have May 29 against the Twins, the Reynolds walkoff game, where Jared Jones returned, Cruz hit a 450-foot bomb, and Wilber Dotel pitched three scoreless innings out of the bullpen for the win. In the other, June 10 against the Dodgers, when Tyler Callihan smacked the first two home runs of his MLB career. One came off Shohei Ohtani. The other landed in the Allegheny River. Not a bad start.

• Best moment: Griffin doubling in his first MLB at-bat April 3 against the Orioles.

• Wildest storyline: When the Pirates moved Mlodzinski to the bullpen — no, that’s not the storyline — many questioned why Bubba Chandler wasn’t instead sent to Triple-A. I think we’re seeing why. Over his past four starts, Chandler has a 2.82 ERA while walking eight, striking out 18 and giving up just one homer in 22 1/3 innings. Little different than his first 12, when the right-hander allowed eight homers and walked 38 in 57 innings.

Second-half questions

• What happens with Griffin and Cruz? Odd that I haven’t found a place for these two. We could create a best newcomer category, which feels too easy. It’s also hard to go Cruz over Reynolds for MVP. But they’re both so darn important. Griffin will take over for Jared Triolo when he returns, Cruz for Jake Mangum. I like Triolo and Mangum, but the team improves a huge amount when that happens.

• Speaking of that, how does the Ozuna situation end? He’s showing signs of life in June, hitting .296 in eight games, but we’re also talking about one extra-base hit and nine strikeouts in 29 plate appearances. When Griffin and Cruz return, the Pirates could find themselves in a roster crunch.

• Are the Pirates actually set at catcher? For all the fuss over this spot, Pirates catchers have a .709 OPS, 12th in MLB. Endy Rodriguez (.845 OPS) has been a pleasant surprise, though they need to be conservative with his playing time due to previous injuries. Davis figures to catch Skenes and Chandler. Rodriguez seemingly has some chemistry with Ashcraft.

• Can they address their offensive weaknesses? If you nitpick, they’ve struggled in two areas: facing lefties and hitting with runners in scoring position. They have a .681 OPS (22nd) against southpaws compared to .770 versus righties (2nd), while their .247 average with runners in scoring position is tied for 15th.

• Can the bullpen find it? Or can general manager Ben Cherington find help? Pittsburgh relievers have a 5.06 ERA (23rd) in June, but that mark has been reduced to 3.54 (11th) over the past 14 days. Whether it’s Isaac Mattson’s return, Dennis Santana, Yohan Ramirez or even Mlodzinski, that group has been better of late.

Jason Mackey: Jason.Mackey@pirates.com and @JMackey_PGH on X.