Pirates Stars Give Reason For Hope In 2025

The Pittsburgh Pirates don't need to look far for reasons to be optimistic next season.
Pittsburgh got good news last week when the expected re-signing of Andrew McCutchen was made official. It is also set to have a full season of right-handed starting pitcher Paul Skenes, who won the 2024 National League Rookie of the Year and was a finalist for the NL Cy Young Award. With those two in tow for next season, CBS Sports' Dayn Perry listed them as reasons the Pirates should have hope in 2025.
"Franchise legend Andrew McCutchen is back for his age-38 season, and this could be his final ride," Perry wrote. "It's of course fitting that he's back in a Pirates uniform for a 12th season with the franchise that first drafted him back in 2005. Elsewhere, Pirates fans can look forward to a full season of young ace Paul Skenes. Skenes, 22, is coming off a rookie campaign in which he put up a 5.9 WAR in just 23 starts and 133 innings. For his efforts, he finished third in the NL Cy Young balloting."
McCutchen, a former MVP, five-time All-Star and four-time Silver Slugger award winner, was one of the Pirates' more productive hitters last season, batting .232/.328/.411 with 20 home runs and 50 RBIs. Anything close to that level of production again would be a more than welcome sign for a Pittsburgh offense that has ranked among the league's worst throughout its nine-year playoff drought.
A full season of Skenes could be exactly what the Pirates need and a scary proposition for opposing offenses. Despite spending the first month-plus of the 2024 season in the minor leagues before getting called up and making his MLB debut on May 11, the Pirates star still strung together a historic rookie season, going 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA in 23 starts and set a franchise record for a rookie with 170 strikeouts over 133 innings pitched. He was also the first pitcher in MLB history to have an ERA below 2.20 and over 150 strikeouts in their first 21 games and the second pitcher since 1913 to have an ERA below 2.00 through their first 22 appearances.
With Skenes entering 2025 with no limitations, Perry believes Pittsburgh's ace should be among the favorites to win the NL Cy Young next season.
"He didn't get called up until the second week of May, which, to repeat, means 2025 will be his first wire-to-wire campaign in the bigs (assuming health, of course)," Perry wrote. "Is he the Cy Young favorite for 2025 in the NL? Is he already the best pitcher in baseball? Those questions can be plausibly asked, which is cause for baseball hope in the Steel City."