One of the many beautiful aspects of baseball involves the ability to quantify darn near everything, the numbers from the back of a card to more advanced ones occupying space on spreadsheets and computer screens around the country.
The Pirates are no exception. They spent the past 162 games producing their own list of numbers that quantify what happened on the field in 2026 — some of it good, some of it bad.
Below you’ll find the 20 that stand out the most to me, along with context.
82: Easy start, right? They finished 82-80, their first winning season since 2018. It’s not the ultimate goal. But it does represent progress, proof there are “good bones” to this team, as Jared Jones said Sunday.
767: That would be the Pirates’ final total of runs scored, sixth-most in MLB. More to the point, it represents the largest year-over-year improvement in baseball at 184. The Rockies were second at 155.
186: A big reason why the Pirates increased their run total involved home runs, Pittsburgh breaking the previous franchise record (171 in 1999) by 15. They also finished with a record 99 at home, and Brandon Lowe (20) set the PNC Park single-season mark.
90: That’s the Pirates’ swing in run differential, from -62 in 2025 to 28 this season. It’s similar to what preceded 2013-15, when the Pirates went from -23 in 2012 to +57. This should’ve been the Pirates’ ’13. But it was still MLB’s fifth-best improvement in run differential.
162: Games played by Bryan Reynolds. He’s the first Pirate to do that since Jason Bay in 2005 and one of just seven across baseball, joining Matt Olson, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Junior Caminero, Bryce Harper, Sal Stewart and Ozzie Albies. Reynolds also led MLB with 40 doubles, the first Pirate to do that in a decade.
.303: The final batting average for Nick Gonzales, sixth-best in MLB, fourth in the National League. Gonzales became the first qualified Pirate to hit .300 since Reynolds (.302) in 2021.
97: Errors made by the Pirates, sixth-most in MLB. This improved later in the year, but it should be a focal point in 2027. General manager Ben Cherington talked about run prevention Saturday in Detroit, and better fielding must be part of that.
8: Players with 10 or more homers, the most for the Pirates since 2019. Those on the list: Lowe (35), Oneil Cruz (20), Ryan O’Hearn (18), Reynolds (17), Esmerlyn Valdez (17), Rafael Flores Jr. (11), Spencer Horwitz (10) and Henry Davis (10).
.224: The jump in batting average (.102 to .326) for Cruz against left-handed pitching, his OPS enjoying a similar spike (.400 to .847). Honorable mention for Cruz joining Barry Bonds and Andy Van Slyke as the only players in the franchise’s National League history with consecutive 20-homer, 30-steal seasons.
18-33: While Cruz improved against left-handed pitching, it was a consistent team issue for the Pirates, who dropped 33 of their 51 games against southpaw starters. Improving that will be one way for the Pirates to find more offensive consistency in 2027.
.691: Want to feel depressed? O’Hearn (76 in 110) and Cruz (67 in 97) averaged .691 RBIs per game, which was tied for fourth-highest such mark in MLB. That equates to 104 RBIs over 150 games. Lowe had 96 RBIs. Yeah, injuries hurt.
3.6: Braxton Ashcraft’s fWAR in 28 starts, which ranked 22nd in MLB. It was actually top-15 before he went on the 15-day injured list with right arm discomfort. Furthermore, only eight had more wins than Ashcraft (14), who averaged the second-fewest pitches per inning (14.59) and enjoyed 20 double plays behind him (tied for third).
35: Lowe’s home run total, the best for a Pirate since Josh Bell hit 37 in 2019. Lowe led MLB second basemen in homers, slugging percentage (.493) and OPS (.824) and should become the third Pirates second baseman to win a National League Silver Slugger.
-1.0: As great of an addition as Lowe was, you can’t tell the story of the 2026 Pirates without mentioning Marcell Ozuna, who was a swing and a miss. Among players with at least 200 plate appearances, Ozuna’s -1.0 fWAR was sixth-worst in all of MLB.
15.4: That’s the (positive) swing in percentage the Pirates experienced in one-run games from 2025 to ’26, fourth-highest in MLB. Pittsburgh was 25-35 (.417) in one-game games in 2025 and 28-21 (.571) this season.
24 2/3: Mason Montgomery’s scoreless-innings streak, the longest for any Pirate since Bill Landrum (31 2/3 innings) in 1989. Bigger than one streak, Montgomery blossomed into an elite reliever. From July 1 on, he led all MLB relievers in fWAR (1.8), had the second-best FIP (1.39) among anyone with 20 or more innings and was tied for sixth with 18 saves.
1,496: The Pirates finished the year with that many strikeouts, breaking the previous franchise record (1,443 in 2019). Skenes led the way by becoming the first Pirate since Bob Veale (three straight from 1964-66) to post back-to-back seasons of at least 200 strikeouts. We won’t mention (OK, maybe we will) that Pirates hitters finished with 1,505 strikeouts, one shy of tying the franchise record from 2024.
-2.3: Paul Skenes have a terrible season? Objectively, no. He was 12th in FanGraphs’ calculation of WAR. However, it was certainly a step back from his 2024-25 performance, represented by his drop in WAR. It should not, however, be cause for more serious concern. The increase between Skenes’ expected ERA (3.28) and actual ERA (3.82) was the third-largest of any qualified pitcher in MLB, an indication that at least some level of bad luck. Skenes also needs to pitch better in 2027.
5.2: Wins above replacement, per FanGraphs, for the Pirates bullpen after the All-Star break, most in MLB. Pittsburgh also saw its relievers slice their ERA from 23rd (4.48) to 10th (3.52) (from the first half to second half) while going from tied for the fourth-most blown saves (16) to tying for the 11th-fewest (9). It’s all part of a larger restructuring featuring Montgomery, Luke Weaver, Lake Bachar, Carmen Mlodzinski, Yohan Ramirez and more that should help in 2027.
2: The Pirates finished with nine players worth at least 2 fWAR, their most since 2017 and matching their average from 2013-15. That’s one more than the Cubs and one fewer than the Brewers.
Jason Mackey: Jason.Mackey@pirates.com and @JMackey_PGH on X.