Pittsburgh Pirates Rebuild - 2026 Midway Check-In

81 games in already?! Boy does the time fly when you're having fun being the upstart Pirates! The 2025 Pirates find themselves 13 games over .500, and with help coming from the IR (both Logan Gilbert (60/60) and Dedniel Nunez (49/49) on rehab assignments with plans to join the team in July. Starting pitching and the offense as a whole are still producing at a good level. So let's take a closer look!

Here's the Team Report through 81 games.

Basics

81 games in and the Reds have really turned up the heat lately, wining 13 of their last 15 games. They have been carried by a pitching staff that have been excellent.

That starting staff has powered the Reds into first in the NL Central, holding a game lead over out Pirates. The Cubs have been scuffling to start the year but are currently 2 games over .500. LHP Justin Steele (60/60), who is coming off a 2024 season where he lead the NL in Wins (17) and ERA (2.38) has had a bit of a come to earth season but is still good, with a 3.32 ERA.

The Brewers and Cardinals round up the division, both of which have essentially begun a rebuild.

Team Stats Rankings are still holding strong halfway into the season.

The Pirates find themselves in the top 3 of all categories outside of Homeruns. RF Bryan Reynolds (52/52) leads the NL in runs scored with 58. LF Jack Suwinski (54/54) is 2nd in the league in RBI's with 59. The new Pirate SS Bo Bichette (51/51) is 5th in the league in hits with 87. Finally building off the team speed mantra from last season, CF Oniel Cruz (53/53) leads the league in steals with 26 and Bryan Reynolds is 3rd with 22.

As far as pitching, the starting staff has been excellent. Anchored by RHP Paul Skenes (80/80) and RHP Jared Jones (54/58) who are both 1st and 2nd in the league in ERA at 1.81 and 1.93 respectively. The bullpen ERA has fallen off by 1 spot, but overall very good, and with help coming when Dedniel Nunez is healthy.

Stats

Batting stats 81 games into the 2026 season. (Sorted by AB)

Expanded Batting stats 81 games into the 2026 season. (Sorted by wRC+)

Pitching stats 81 games into the 2026 season. (Sorted by IP)

Batting Notes

Let's start with some milestone games.

• On 5/19 in a 22-3 win against the Chicago White Sox, 1B Kyle Manzardo (55/60) went 5-for-6 with 3R, 1HR and 5RBI.

• In the same game, 3B Eguy Rosario (48/48) went 4-for-6 with 4 R 1 HR and 6 RBI.

• A few days later on 5/22 in a 11-4 win against the Tigers Oniel Cruz goes 3-for-3 with 2 R, 2 HR, and 5 RBI.

• THE VERY NEXT DAY in a 12-3 win over the Tigers, Eguy Rosario has another monster game, going 4-for-5 with 3 R, 1 HR and 4 RBI.

Now some general tidbits:

• SS Bo Bichette has been everything as advertised midway through the season. He is slashing .304/.342/.483 and is tied for 2nd on the team in homeruns (10) and 2nd in RBI's (48). He is also tied for 2nd on the team in wRC+ (134) and 3rd in OPS+ (133) while being 1st in WAR (3.8)

• RF Josh Palacios (50/50) is the team leader in in wRC+ (142) and OPS+ (140). He is also 2nd in the league in 2B (24), often giving the Pirates a man in scoring position to start games. Crazy to think to start the 2025 season he was a border line roster player, he has been the ignition for the offense out of the leadoff spot.

• How about some LF Jack Suwinski love? While he is among the league leaders in K's, he leads the Pirates in HR (13) and RBI (59). He's also been amazing with runners on. In just about every scenario outside of a single runner on 2nd he has and wRC+ and OPS+ well above league average.

• 2B Termarr Johnson (47/53) has seen extended time in the majors filling in admirably for 2B Nick Gonzales (49/49) who suffered a fractured thumb on 5/8. Johnson has slashed .217/.335/.318 proving to be a good on base threat by also stealing 16 bags.

• C Henry Davis (55/55) is still raking, slashing .281/.380/.442 with a .822 OPS, 134 wRC+ and OPS+. He has 24 XBH and 37 RBI, and has already surpassed his 2025 WAR of 2.6, sitting at 3.0.

Pitching Notes

Starting again with some milestone games.

• On 6/14 in a 12-0 win against the Rockies, Paul Skenes went the distance for a no hitter, striking out 12 while walking 2. In the span of 13 starts that's 1 perfect game and 1 no-hitter. This guy has been unreal.

• Rookie RHP Bubba Chandler (44/47) took a no-hitter bid into the 8th inning on 6/25, in a 7-0 win against the St. Louis Cardinals. He allowed just the 1 hit, with 3 walks and a career high 8 strikeouts and threw 107 pitches in the effort.

  • Bubba has been great since getting the call up to replace an injured Logan Gilbert, in 13 starts he is 4-4 with a 3.01 ERA sporting a solid 1.19 WHIP.

Now some general tidbits:

• Our starting rotation in general has been nuts, 3 of our 5 starters are top 5 in K's (Skenes: 134 / Ramos: 104 / Jones: 103) and the current highest starter ERA is RHP Mel Ramos (54/54) wo is sitting at 3.59, who has brought it down from the high 5's from early season struggles.

• Rookie RHP Austin Krob (39/40) who was part of the deal that brought Eguy Rosario over from San Diego, made a spot start in the stead of Jared Jones who was scratched from a start due to shoulder soreness. In a 3-1 loss to the Tigers on 6/27 Austin went 6.2 innings, allowing 6 hits and 2 runs, while striking out 3. A valiant debut for the rookie.

  • He is currently taking up a slot in the bullpen, awaiting Dedniel Nunez's return to the closer role.

• LHP Caleb Ferguson (47/47) has been a fantastic closer in a pinch. In 22 appearances he converted 15 of 16 saves, sporting a 1.27 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP. And most importantly has not allowed a HR in his 21.1 innings.

Transactions / Injuries

Injuries

No new major injuries to report, just some updates to previous injuries.

• LHP Dedniel Nunez is on a rehab assignment in AAA Indianapolis with 26 days remaining.

• RHP Logan Gilbert has 1 more rehab start in Indianapolis before returning to the MLB team.

• 2B Nick Gonzales returned from injury, slashing .228/.323/.342 in 23 games since returning.

Transactions

Nothing major here either but some updates.

• LF Chris Newell (44/47) was placed on the 40 man roster on 6/29. He has been absolutely killing the International League, slashing .259/.377/.634 with a 1.001 OPS. Smacking 23 HR and 59 RBI in 62 games.

• DFA'ed RHP Will Smith who is 28 games and 27.2 innings had a 4.23 ERA and 1.45 WHIP. Designated the lefty specialist he gave up a 5.84 ERA to lefties.

Minor League Check-In

Much like last time we will take a look at our farm system, and touch on player development and news.

1. Top prospect 22 y/o LHP Jamie Arnold (36/59) is 3-2 with a 3.32 ERA in 7 starts in A ball, he struggled in A+ and AA, but has settled in a bit with the Marauders. His WHIP is a bit high (1.32) but his ERA+ is a very good 151.

2. Number 2 prospect 19 y/o C.J. Gray (26/50) is still scuffling in FCL rookie ball, with a 6.47 ERA and a 1.73 WHIP.

3. Number 8 prospect 21 y/o Jhonny Severino (39/46) was called up to AAA, and has slashed .278/.322/.370 in 12 games with 1 HR and 8 RBI.

4. Number 10 prospect 19 y/o Levi Sterling (32/50) has a 5.19 ERA in 14 starts in A ball.

Big milestones in the season coming, the First-Year player draft looms this month, as well as the All-Start game and finally the trade deadline. We will be back on game 121 to update you with all the news regarding the Pirates!