Pirates Insider: Ryan O’Hearn believes team is delivering a message to management

Ryan O’Hearn doesn’t live in a hypothetical world. But he's definitely one of the Pirates' leaders and has been part of the ongoing discussions centered around remaining goals in 2026.

Things like building momentum toward next season, proving there’s a strong foundation when everyone is healthy and, yes, finishing over .500 for the first time since 2018.

“I think [manager Don Kelly] done a great job of kind of instilling that in guys, just the competitiveness," O'Hearn said. "It's who we are. We compete.

"Obviously [stinks] we won't be playing in October, but we definitely want to finish on a strong note.”

Tuesday’s 2-0 victory over the Cardinals at PNC Park offered more evidence of the Pirates’ fight and desire to end the season with a bang, raising their September record to 13-6.

In ways, it’s bittersweet. O’Hearn, Konnor Griffin and Oneil Cruz are healthy again, and they’ve shown how much was missing. But an 11-15 June and a 12-15 August proved too tough to overcome.

The focus now has become 2027 and what individual performances matter.

It’s hard to find someone who’s had a better September than Jared Jones, who’s now 3-0 in four starts this month, allowing just three earned runs in 25 innings (1.08 ERA) while walking four and striking out 35.

That included arguably Jones’ best outing of the season against the Cardinals, with just one hit allowed (no runs or walks) and nine strikeouts in seven innings.

“The past four months it’s been either really good or really bad,” Jones said. “Glad I’m ending the year with a good month.”

Jones racked up 18 whiffs and allowed just four hard-hit balls, showcasing his elite fastball-slider combination ... but also impressive growth by throwing his curveball and changeup for strikes.

Back when Jones made his 2026 debut, there was discussion whether he should move to the bullpen in favor of Carmen Mlodzinski. It’s probably a good thing that move wasn’t made.

Jones is now just the sixth Pirate with three no-hit bids of at least five innings in a season since the Expansion Era (since 1961).

Since 1901, there have been three instances of a Pirates pitcher going seven or more innings with at least nine strikeouts while allowing one baserunner. Jones has been responsible for two of them.

“We saw how good he can be before he got hurt,” Kelly said. “Now, we’re starting to see him be very consistent and being able to do that start after start.”

The Pirates’ September swoon has hardly been isolated to Jones. There was Griffin in the fifth inning, lining a triple at 108.1 mph to right-center, then jetting around the bases. He's hitting .298 while playing elite defense over his past 13.

It’s a little more than September, but entering Tuesday’s game, Cruz was hitting .358 with a .941 OPS since Aug. 28. Rafael Flores Jr. has a 15-game on-base streak that dates back to Sept. 2. He’s hitting .370 during that time.

Brandon Lowe has generated plenty of calls for a contract extension, while Mason Montgomery has been the best reliever in baseball for nearly the past two months. (He had the night off due to recent usage patterns.)

Bottom line, what we’re seeing now represents a blueprint for success.

Luke Weaver handled the eighth inning no problem, striking out three. Even Spencer Horwitz, who’s not exactly fleet of foot, made a smart read, tagged up and scored on a wild pitch for the Pirates’ second run. Cruz avoided a double play by stealing prior to O’Hearn’s go-ahead single in the sixth.

"We continued to fight and grind and found a way," Kelly said.

Though the Pirates have hit a franchise-record 181 home runs this season, their offense has been at its best relying on a relentless, team-wide approach.

That's has evident throughout September, when they’ve produced a .763 OPS (seventh) and have had nine players hit homers.

As a result, the Pirates are 80-77, two victories away from their first winning season in eight years. They could also finish with a winning record against the division (they’re 25-25) for just the third time since the NL Central was formed in 1994.

They’re not actual things, mind you. Nobody has a trophy waiting. But it does tell those inside the clubhouse — with a bunch of ‘em coming back — that they’re good enough to compete when everyone is healthy.

Especially after the bullpen improvements made around the MLB Trade Deadline.

“It's a group of guys that likes to compete, and we want to win,” O’Hearn said. “There’ve been games where it might’ve been tough to have the same motivation. But it's just not the nature of the guys in here.”

The hitting program improved a lot in year two of Matt Hague. Why can’t the pitching group do the same with Bill Murphy?

Furthermore, the performance of guys like Jones, Braxton Ashcraft and Bubba Chandler should be extremely encouraging when coupled with this offense and a better bullpen.

Stinks that it didn’t happen sooner, but it should still be in play for 2027.

“Obviously you wish you could stay completely healthy all year long, but that's not the case,” O’Hearn said. “But I will say this: This definitely feels like a group to build off of.

"I'm not the GM; I don't make those decisions in the offseason. But it definitely feels like a group that's building together moving forward. It doesn't feel like the end.

“I’ve been on teams where it kind of felt like the end-of-an-era-type thing, but this definitely feels like a team that you want to build forward with.”

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