Pirates eager to advance beyond theoretical and prove themselves

NEW YORK -- We’ve seen a few key trades and the largest contract for a free-agent hitter in team history. The Pirates arrived at Spring Training touting a revamped offense, Paul Skenes had to find somewhere to display his National League Cy Young Award and there’s been no shortage of optimism regarding the 2026 season.

At the same time, these Pirates have grown tired of living in a theoretical world.

“Hate talking about it,” Mitch Keller said last week in Florida. “Time to go do it.”

The Pirates bonded during Spring Training and solidified some roles. They played exhibition baseball well, too. But there’s also a crystal-clear understanding that nothing matters until the curtain rises Thursday afternoon against the Mets on national TV.

“There’s been a lot of talk,” Brandon Lowe said. “I think everyone here has been champing at the bit to get rolling.”

Can you blame them?

This season is expected to be different -- and the Pirates appear armed to make that happen.

With Opening Day now squarely within everyone’s sights, here are five arguments why it’s fair to expect change from the Pirates in 2026.

That offense

The additions of Lowe, Ryan O’Hearn, Marcell Ozuna and Jake Mangum should help the Pirates diversify their approach. Most important, though, the first three should help the team in the area where it struggled most last season -- extra-base hits and home runs.

Pittsburgh finished last with 117 homers last season.

Lowe and Ozuna have combined for five seasons with at least 30 home runs. Overall, the Pirates will roll out a lineup with 10 full seasons (minimum: 100 games) where someone had an .800 OPS or better.

Again, no guarantees. But the Pirates will begin this season in a far better spot offensively than they ended the last one.

“I think we have a really good lineup,” Bryan Reynolds said. “If you look around the league, I think ours stacks right up there.”

United front

Technically things changed May 9 of last year, Don Kelly’s first game as Pirates manager. But throughout his first Spring Training in this capacity, Kelly has had an unmistakable impact on his hometown club.

Not with rah-rah speeches or anything flashy, although Kelly struck the right notes on the first day of full-squad workouts by emphasizing the Pirates are playing for something bigger than themselves and making Pittsburgh proud.

It’s more Kelly’s relatability with players, the trust and respect he’s earned and how they’ve all been on the same page with the message Kelly has worked to deliver.

“I can’t tell you how fired up I am to play for that man,” Mangum said. “Where I come from, where you come from is a big deal. You’re proud of it. Him having that with Pittsburgh means a lot to me.

“I have no connection to Pittsburgh other playing for the Pirates now. His love for where he’s from makes me want to play harder for this city and organization. Can’t speak highly enough about him.”

Pitching in

Along with unveiling a new lineup and an extremely healthy player-manager dynamic, the Pirates will finally get to end the theoretical when it comes to their pitching staff.

We’ve heard about new and tweaked arms under the guidance of new pitching coach Bill Murphy. We’ve seen radar gun readings and sifted through Baseball Savant.

Now, it’s time to go do it.

Skenes needs to be Skenes. Keller needs to carry over first-half success beyond the All-Star break. Bubba Chandler and Braxton Ashcraft must translate elite stuff into consistently strong outings. It’s possible Carmen Mlodzinski is better equipped to handle starting this time around, but they all have to go do it.

“We know what we’re capable of doing,” Keller said. “But we’re ready to play and see where this group can take us.”

As important as the starters might be, don’t overlook the bullpen. That group was solid last season. It needs to be boring for the Pirates to make a postseason push.

Yes, seriously.

"Nobody likes to talk about boring stuff," Justin Lawrence said. "They want home runs and the crazy innings. But if we’re going 1-2-3 with two strikeouts and a groundout and it’s boring, we’ve done our job.”

Face of the franchise

The Pirates needing to improve their offense is obvious. Ditto for leaning on pitching as a strength.

Here’s a third: This is Skenes’ team.

It doesn’t need to be said, but it’s true. He’s the face of the franchise and main attraction, the guy whose obsession with work and winning is impossible to ignore, the one who sets the tone.

The Pirates are in a better place because they have stronger leaders on the position player side. It matches what they’ve built with pitching around Skenes. But the impact of the best starting pitcher in baseball is undeniable.

“Everybody ultimately trusts him,” Mlodzinski said. “He’s second to none in terms of preparation and making sure he’s in the best position to succeed. He’s no doubt our leader.”

If the Pirates win this season that storyline will only grow.

Situational awareness

The last point here links back to Kelly, because it has framed the entire spring. But Pirates players are also plenty aware, the same for pretty much everyone throughout the organization.

It’s time.

Development and other assorted processes have been emphasized. Certainly the MLB draft -- and those things don’t go away. But the focal point absolutely must be winning the game that night … and doing whatever it takes to make that happen.

Fans deserve that. It hasn’t happen nearly enough of late. And PNC Park will go bananas this season if the Pirates win.

Players are elated that the time has finally come where they can finally do something about it.

“Everyone rolls into camp with expectations of going to the playoffs, but it’s real here,” Mangum said. “I feel like everyone is pulling on the same side of the rope. Everyone's excited to help in any way they can. There's a lot of selflessness.

“But we have to go show it now. We’ve been talking about it for two months. Now, it’s just time to go play ball.”