Analyst Calls Out Pirates 'Heartlessness'
With the 2024 season in the books for the Pittsburgh Pirates, they now have ample time to look back at what they need to address and improve on heading into 2025.
ESPN looked at what went wrong for every team that missed the playoffs and what they could do to improve next season. For Pittsburgh, ESPN cited the team's heartlessness and lack of contributions from the middle of the lineup as the one that cost it and it doesn't expect the Pirates to address the glaring hole this offseason.
"As a collective, Pittsburgh's three-through-six hitters this season have a .676 OPS, better than only the White Sox and Angels," ESPN's Bradford Doolittle writes. "There are too many good things happening on this roster to allow that to continue. Though it probably will, because the easy solution is to make a couple of real investments via free agency -- and that's not the Pirates' way."
A solid pitching rotation for the Pirates anchored by Paul Skenes was often undermined by an inept offense. Pittsburgh's offense ranked in the bottom 10 in nearly every major category, leading to the dismissal of hitting coach Andy Haines.
Haines had been the Pirates' hitting coach since 2022.
Given where the Pirates' farm system currently stands, the odds they'll be able to call up a prospect who can make an immediate impact at the plate are slim to none. The Pirates' best chance at finding an answer to their offensive woes is through free agency, and Pittsburgh is one of the few franchises that's typically unwilling to spend on a year-to-year basis.
Bryan Reynolds and Oneil Cruz can be a solid foundation for an offense, but Pittsburgh is going to need more if it's going to reverse its fortunes. If Pittsburgh won't open up its pocketbooks, it may be more of the same problems in 2025.
