Pittsburgh Pirates Rebuild - 2027 1st Quarter Check-In
- IamCogs
- 2 days ago
- 7 min read
It's been awhile since we've touched on the Pirates, we covered the off-season previously, you can find that post here. With the actual MLB season gearing up to start, I got the itch once again to dust of OOTP and continue our Pirates dynasty.
It was an interesting first 41 games of the 2027 season, we made a lot of moves within the organization, including a youth movement coming up through the system and landing on the banks of the Allegheny.
Some things we will be covering this check-in:
NL Central check-in
League update including stats, standing, milestones
Team stats, milestones and transactions
A check-in in the farm
Here's the Team Report for the 1st Quarter of 2027 season.
Basics
It was a slow start out of the gates for the Pirates, starting just 3-5 in their first 8, but the Pirates caught fire, winning their next 10 of 12, finishing the split 26-15.
The rest of the division is having it's own issues to start the 2027 season, as no other NL Central team sports a record above .500. The Brewers, Cubs, and Reds all are near the bottom of the league in runs scored, with no team sitting better than 24th, the Cardinals, are 8th there, but currently sport the 3rd worst record in the MLB, behind only the Chicago White Sox and Miami Marlins. Funny how that works.
Here's the NL Central standings through the first 41 games.
Here's the team stat rankings through the 1st Quarter:
Pitching continues to be the strength of this Pirates run, along with base running and stolen bases.
Home runs have seen an upturn as the focus on bringing in power bats has, so far, paid off. But the dip in AVG/OBP/OPS has been a slight concern to start the year.
League News
Milestones
Starting with some milestones achieved:
04/30/27: Philadelphia Phillies 1B Bryce Harper (58/58) recorded his 2000th career hit against the Miami Marlins.
04/25/27: Washington Nationals DH Eugenio Suarez (46/46) recorded his 300th career homerun against the Atlanta Braves.
04/15/27: Cincinnati Reds 1B Pete Alonso (51/51) recorded his 300th career homerun against the San Francisco Giants.
04/06/27: Texas Rangers DH George Springer (46/46) recorded his 300th career homerun against the San Diego Padres.
And some milestones creeping close:
San Diego Padres 1B Xander Bogaerts (45/45) is 18 hits away from 2000.
Los Angeles Dodgers SS Mookie Betts (63/63) is 79 hits away from 2000.
Milwaukee Brewers DH Christian Yelich (52/52) is 81 hits away from 2000.
New York Yankees DH Giancarlo Stanton (44/44) is 21 homeruns away from 500.
Houston Astros DH Jose Altuve (46/46) is 39 RBI's away from 1000.
Detroit Tigers SP Chris Sale (55/55) is 110 strikeouts away from 3000.
Philadelphia Phillies RP Kenley Jansen (50/50) is 6 saves away from 500.
Standings
The AL East, so far, looks like a slaughter fest. 3 teams at the top with or just behind the best record in baseball, and the Red Sox are just 2 games from .500.
The NL West looks very similar as well. It's still early, and there will be a lot of change over the next 120+ games, but thus far the AL East and NL West look to be the strongest divisions in the MLB.
League Leaders
Offense
Pitching
Stats
Batting Notes
Milestone Games:
Newcomer to the team, 3B Coby Mayo (48/56) won NL player of the week on 4/26, going 10-20, while hitting 5 homeruns, scoring 9 runs, and knocking in 10.
On 5/9 1B Tyler Locklear (46/46) went 3-4 with 1 homerun, 2 runs scored, 2 doubles, and 4 RBI's in a 11-0 win over the Miami Marlins.
On 5/11 CF Jack Suwinksi (51/51) went 4-4 with 1 homerun, 2 runs, 2 doubles, and 1 RBI in a 6-2 win over the Chicago Cubs.
Also on 5/11 SS Bo Bichette (50/50) went 3-5 scoring 3 runs, knocking in 3 and hitting 2 homeruns.
Batting tidbits:
SS Bo Bichette (50/50) continues to be everything as advertised for the Pirates, leading the team in 2B, RBI, AVG, OBP, SLG, OPS, WAR, and wRC+ all the while improving his walk rate from 2026 from 7.4% to 9.0% and dropping his K rate from 18.6% to 13.8%. Worth every single dollar of his $25,500,000 salary.
2B Termarr Johnson (53/54) took over the leadoff spot after some early season struggles from Josh Palacios and has been excellent. Slashing .291/.383/.447 while leading the team in walks (21) and stolen basses (13). After a solid rookie year, the 22 year old is looking to be the answer at 2B for the Pirates.
3B Coby Mayo (48/56) has had a very strong start to his career in Pittsburgh, slashing .246/.351/.460 while being tied for the team league in homeruns (7) and being 2nd on the team in RBI's (23).
1B Tyler Locklear (46/46) has also had a good start to his 2027 season. With a slash line of .276/.342/.520 he's added nice pop at 1B with 5 homeruns and has knocked in 15 so far.
Concern is growing for 1B Kyle Manzardo (56/57), who is now in his 3rd season with the Pirates and has less cumulative WAR with the Pirates than his 2025 season with the Guardians. He is currently slugging just .283 on the season with 1 home run a 5 doubles. The power just has not been there for a guy who was specifically acquired to add power. He continues to get on base due to his good eye and a decent .323 OBP despite just a .212 average, but we hoped for more in the power department from him.
Newcomers RF Jo Adell (51/51) and RF Jorge Soler (43/43) have not exactly hit the ground running, while Adell is tied for the team league in homeruns with 7, he is slashing just .198/.265/.396 while Soler has hit just 1 homerun and is slashing .179/.300/.254.
CF Jack Suwinksi (51/51) has had a pretty rough start to 2027 and was dropped to 9th in the batting order due to it. He is slashing .208/.278/.392 with 5 home runs and 17 RBI's. He is still adding value on the basepaths with 12 steals, and in the last 10 games has seen his average climb from .170 to .208, so maybe a sign of things turning around.
Pitching Notes
Milestones:
SP Paul Skenes (80/80) just continues to be the best pitcher in baseball, winning the NL pitcher of the month for April. He went 5-0 in 32.2 IP, recording 41 strikeouts, 10 walks, a 1.10 ERA, an .179 average against an a stellar 0.890 WHIP. I have no idea how we're going to afford this man long term.
After a doubleheader early in the season, LHP Anthony Solometo (45/45) was called up for a spot start to offer a day of rest for the rotation. He pitched fantastically in a 3-1 win over the Chicago Cubs. Tossing 6 innings of 1 run ball, striking out 5 and walking 4. About as good as you can ask on late notice.
Pitching tidbits:
The starting rotation, to no one's surprise, has been the rock of the team once again. Posting a combined 2.82 starter ERA, by far the best in the Majors. All startrs sport an ERA under 4.
Newest addition LHP Reid Detmers (58/59) so far has been everything the Pirates have needed out of a top flight leftie. Sporting a 2.68 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. A weakness in the rotation for the Pirates the last few seasons has quickly become a strength.
LHP Danny Young (47/47) has continued his strong play from 2026, allowing 0 runs (both earned and unearned) though 15.1 IP while striking out 18 to just 5 walks.
RHP Dedniel Nunez (48/48) has also been money after a slow start this year. On 4/9 he sported a 9.00 ERA but has slowly worked that ERA down, allowing just earned runs in 12 appearances since lowering his ERA to 2.96 and becoming the workhorse of the bullpen, pitching a team high for relivers 24.1 IP.
LHP Closer Caleb Ferguson (45/45) has continued to deal, posting a 1.23 ERA in 14.2 IP. His walk numbers are a bit high but has done a good job working himself out of free base runners. He did allow his first home run in over 60 innings pitched, a homerun the ultimately led to his only blown save on the year so far.
A handful of usually reliable relivers have struggled early this season, RHP Dennis Santana (44/44), RHP Jesus Tinoco (45/45), and RHP Carmen Mlodzinski (45/45) all have early season ERA's north of 4, Santana's metrics (1.24 WHIP) seem to err on the side of "unlucky". It's a long season, so we'll see!
Transactions
A couple in organization moves to talk about.
5/10 was a busy day for moves as three players were optioned to Indianapolis and 3 players were called up to replace them. The follower were all optioned:
C Endy Rodiguez (44/44) .154/.214/.308, 1 HR, 4 RBI
2B Tsung-Che Cheng (44/47) .212/.263/.327 1 HR, 8 RBI
LF Chris Newell (45/47) .217/.309/.317 1 HR, 6 RBI
To replace them, the following were called up (AAA stats notated)
C Omar Alfonzo (43/45) .250/.324/.365 3 HR 10 RBI
SS Jack Brannigan (42/44) .308/.372/.462 5 HR 17 RBI
RF Matt Gorski (44/44) .318/.369/.744 17 HR 47 RBI
Matt Gorski was absolutely slaughtering AAA ball, sporting a 175 OPS+ and a 1.113 OBP.
On 5/17 the Pirates made the decision to release RF Jorge Soler (43/43) after he slashed just .179/.300/.308 with just 1 HR and 6 RBI's in 26 games.
To replace him, CF Kevin Alcantara (45/64) was called up, who was slashing .336/.414/.730 while hitting 14 homeruns and knocking in 36. He was sporting a 1.144 OPS and a 184 OPS+ in 32 games.
Minor League Check-In
Finally a look at the farm system, Here's the current records of each level
AAA Indianapolis Indians (23-16, 2nd)
AA Altoona Curve (20-13, 2nd)
A+ Greensboro Grasshoppers (23-10, 1st)
A Bradenton Marauders (27-6, 1st)
FCL Pirates (4-1, 2nd)
And a look at the top prospects of the system.
AAA LHP Magdiel Cotto (43/47) 37.1 IP, 3-4, 4.58 ERA, 40 K, 22 BB, 1.53 WHIP
AAA 3B Orelvis Martinez (45/53) 38 G, .262/.346/.610 14 HR, 25 RBI, .956 OPS, 128 wRC+
AAA RHP Jose Rodriguez (41/42) 45.0 IP, 4-2, 4.80 ERA, 51 K, 20 BB, 1.20 WHIP
AA LHP Jamie Arnold (40/53) 44.1 IP, 2-3, 4.26 ERA, 49 K, 10 BB, 1.13 WHIP
AA SS Jhonny Severino (42/47) 33 G, .318/.408/.530 6 HR, 26 RBI, .938 OPS, 159 wRC+
Severino was also named the Eastern League player of the week on 5/17 going 11-21 with 4 HR and 7 RBI.
A RHP Levi Sterling (34/48) 38.0 IP, 3-1, 2.61 ERA, 53 K, 6 BB, 0.84 WHIP
FCL LHP Ronaldys Jimenez (32/43) 6.2 IP 1-0, 1.35 ERA, 4 K, 4 BB, 1.05 WHIP
FCL LHP Chrisian Lim (32/55) 5.2 IP, 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 7 K, 2 BB, 0.71 WHIP
That about wraps things up for our 1st quarter check in, we will see you in 40 games for the midway check in. Thanks for reading!
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