Pirates Ranked Third Worst Opening Day Lineup
PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates head into 2025 with high expectations of themselves, but not everyone shares that optimism.
Jim Bowden of The Athletic ranked every MLB team's opening day lineup and placed the Pirates at No. 28 out of 30 teams, third worst in the league.
The only teams who he ranked worse were the Miami Marlins and Chicago White Sox, who finished with a 62-100 record and a 41-121 record, respectively, with the White Sox having the most losses in a season in the modern era.
Bowden doesn't see this lineup possessing enough talent from top-to-bottom, nor enough solid bats to compete at the highest level.
"The Pirates have an emerging superstar in Oneil Cruz, who should be able to improve on his 21-home run, 22-stolen base season now that he is a full-time center fielder," Bowden wrote. "Right fielder Bryan Reynolds and veteran Andrew McCutchen provide solid consistency at the plate. The Pirates added a veteran bat in Tommy Pham to play left field, but this offense just lacks quality and depth. They need catcher Joey Bart to show that last year’s improvement was real, and they need a healthy Ke’Bryan Hayes to finally live up to his potential."
Pittsburgh struggled again with their hitting last season, with .234 batting average as a team, tied for the seventh worst team batting average in the MLB, which saw them fire hitting coach Andy Haines.
They set a franchise record with 1,506 strikeouts, the fourth most in the MLB. They tied for the fourth worst on-base percentage at .301, the fourth worst slugging percentage at .371, leading to the fourth worst OPS (on-base plus slugging) at .672.
The Pirates also ranked in the bottom third of the MLB with 643 RBIs, No. 21, 1,283 hits and 17 triples, No. 22, 665 runs, No. 24, 160 home runs and 2,033 total bases, No. 25 and 236 doubles, No. 26.
Walks was the only category that Pittsburgh didn't feature in the lower end of the MLB, tied with the Atlanta Braves at No. 17 with 485 walks.
Only two starters who played more than 100 games had a batting average of .250 of more, in Oneil Cruz at .259 and All-Star outfielder Bryan Reynolds at .275.
The Pirates did add free agent outfielder Tommy Pham on a one-year, $4 million deal with $250,000 in incentives. They also traded for first baseman Spencer Horwitz, but he is currently dealing with a wrist and didn't play all Spring Training.
Pittsburgh opens its season with a four-game road series vs. the Miami Marlins, starting on March 27.
