Pittsburgh Pirates Rebuild - 2028 1st Quarter Check-In
- IamCogs
- 18 hours ago
- 9 min read
The 1st Quarter of 2028 was the most blisteringly hot start in Pittsburgh Pirates history, and while not the best mark in MLB history (The 1984 Detroit Tigers started 35-6) the 34-7 Pirates made it well known early that there was no early hangover from the 2027 World Series sweep handed to them by the Boston Red Sox.
But I can't help but feel...we're still missing a lot. The pitching has been as good as it's ever been, but the offense has been hot and cold up and down the line up, which includes three every day players batting near or well under the .200 batting average mark.
That said, the offense as a whole has looked good, it's pacing the NL in homeruns, and is 3rd overall in the NL in OPS.
Baseball historically is a slow spot when it comes to offense early in the season so I'm hoping that has much to do with it, but it is certainly something we will keep an eye on moving forward. Those struggled will be covered a bit more in-depth later in this recap.
But first, we will cover the rest.
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 2028 season.
Basics
The season started off in historic fashion. SP Paul Skenes (80/80) made his 4th consecutive opening day start for the Pirates, putting him in a four way time for 3rd most all time in Pirates history. And Skenes put on an absolute show, twirling a complete game shutout, and most importantly breaking an MLB pitching record, striking out 21 batters in the outing, surpassing Roger Clemens, Kerry Wood and Max Scherzer who were all tied with 20. The Pirates would ride that momentum to win 9 of their first 10 games, on their way to posting a spectacular 21-4 record in April.
The Cardinals and Reds are both off to good early starts, the Reds being paced by SS Elly De La Cruz (76/80) who is leading the NL in RBI's (36) and Homeruns (14). Jordan Walker (67/70) in St. Louis isn't much farther behind, knocking in 31 slugging 13 homeruns.
The Brewers have put together a solid offense with good top end pitching, but back end pitching in their rotation may end up holding them back.
And finally the Cubs may have the best overall roster outside the Pirates in the division, but a sluggish start has them in last, I would imagine this changing quickly
Here's the NL Central standings through the first 41 games.
Here's the team stat rankings through the 1st Quarter:
As mentioned pitching has looked as good as it ever has with the Pirates in 2028, the bullpen has been fantastic, sporting 5 arms owning an ERA below 1.00 with more than 10 IP. Meanwhile the starting rotation has held up it's end of the bargain as well, with every starter outside of RHP Logan Gilbert (54/54) owning an ERA below 3.00, including rookie RHP Brett Crossland (42/59), who will be seeing intermitted starts this year.
Homeruns and stolen bases continue to pace the offense but much like the early part of 2027, the underlying numbers such as batting average, and OBP are lagging a bit. But I feel like we're too good an offense for that to be the story of the year.
League News
Milestones
No milestones conquered in the 1st quarter of 2028. But we do have some close to falling:
Cleveland Guardians 3B Jose Ramirez (52/52) is 10 hits away from 2000.
New York Mets SS Francisco Lindor (53/53) is 59 hits away from 2000.
he is also 13 RBI's away from 1000.
New York Mets 1B Juan Soto (72/72) is 2 HR away from 300.
Chicago White Sox 1B Freddie Freeman (56/56) is 27 RBI's away from 1500.
Milwaukee Brewers 1B Christian Yelich (50/50) is 11 RBI's away from 1000.
Detroit Tigers SP Chris Sale (50/50) is 28 strikeouts away from 3000.
Toronto Blue Jays SP Carlos Rodon (47/47) is 93 strikeouts away from 2000.
Standings
This season has seen a lot more league wide parity, with just two divisions (NL East and Central) seeing last place more than 10 games behind. Also, the Athletics finished their move to Las Vegas, officially taking the city name and change their logo and color scheme...to purple and white??
League Leaders
Offense
Pitching
A few appearances from some Pirates in the batting leaderboards, with CF Kevin Alcantara (52/63) tied for third in the MLB in RBI's with 34, and 2B Termarr Johnson (60/60) fourth in the MLB in runs scored with 32.
As usual the pitching leaderboards are dominated by SP Paul Skenes (80/80) and crew, with Skenes leading 7 of the major pitching statistical categories.
Stats
Batting Notes
Milestone Games:
On 3/21 in a 4-0 win against the Arizona Diamondbacks, LF Shalin Polanco (46/49) recorded his first hit and RBI in the majors.
Shalin was a wonderful story in the first quarter of the season having numerous milestone games including:
First career homerun on 3/30 against the Padres in a 7-0 win.
Going 3-5 with 3 runs scored, 1 homerun and 2 RBI's in a 18-5 win on 4/1 in San Diego.
Going 2-3 with 5 RBI's including a grand slam on 4/21 in a 11-4 win against the Padres.
Going 3-4 on 4/26, with all 3 hits being homeruns in a 6-1 win against the Diamondbacks.
On 3/22 in the season's 2nd game, SS Bo Bichette hit a dramatic walk-off grand slam against the Diamondbacks to send the Pirates faithful home as 7-6 victors. It capped a 5 run 9th inning rally to get the Pirates off to a 2-0 start.
In one of the biggest offensive outputs in the early goings of the season, the Pirates saw 6 players record multiple hits, including 3 players (2B Termarr Johnson (60/60), C Henry Davis (58/58), and DH Shalin Polanco (46/49) recording three each.
The Pirates hit 7 homeruns in total, LF Jack Suwinski (51/51), SS Bo Bichette (52/52), 1B Tyler Locklear (48/48), DH Shalin Polanco (46/49), and CF Kevin Alcantara (52/63) all hit one, while C Henry Davis (58/58) went for two.
Despite a very slow 1st quarter, RF Jo Adell (51/51) did show some signs of his 2027 form, on 4/7 he recorded a 3-4 day where he scored 3 runs, and drove in 5 while hitting 2 homeruns in a 7-3 win against the San Francisco Giants.
Rookie SS Jhonny Severino (48/49) hit his first career homerun in a 7-2 win against the Diamondbacks, he finished the day going 2-3 with a walk and the aforementioned homerun.
Contributions from across the roster as 3B Jack Brannigan (46/46) would go 2-4 with 2 homeruns and 4 RBI's in a 5-2 win at the Chicago Cubs.
Batting tidbits:
The best story of the offense thus far has be rookie LF Shalin Polanco's (46/49) early season breakout.
In 36 games (only 28 starts and 114 PA's) Polanco has slugged 10 homeruns and has driven in 24 runs. He is slashing .295/.351/.619 so far with a .970 OPS, 168 wRC+ and is sitting at 1.1 WAR already.
LF Jack Suwinski's (51/51) 2027 struggles were well documented, posting just 1.6 WAR after in 2026 season that saw him go for 4.8. He slashed just .225/.320/.406 with a .726 OPS. And while his slashline overall is about the same (.243/.280/.443) that is mostly due to an abnormally low 4.7% walk rate, well below his 10.9% career mark. Once he returns to form there he will be near a .800 OPS guy.
CF Kevin Alcantara (52/63) isn't hitting homeruns at the clip he was in 2027, but he is pacing the team in RBI's sitting at 34, among the league leaders. He's hit a slight cold streak over the last 6 games going jus 2-22 but he has progressed nicely so far.
3B Coby Mayo (59/61) is definitely panning out to be the man in the hot corner for many years to come. Slashing .290/.365/.471 with a .836 OPS. He is on pace for just 20 homeruns, but as the weather heats up, those deep flyouts should start leaving the yard.
There are some struggling bats, however.
1B Tyler Locklear (48/48) has a slash of .202/.316/.351 with a .667 OPS. He has hit just 4 homeruns and knocked in 12 runs.
C Henry Davis (58/58) is slashing .197/.250/.402 good for a .652 OPS hitting 6 homeruns and 14 runs batted in.
RF Jo Adell (51/51) is struggling more than the rest with a slash of .172/.270/.306 and an OPS .576, I'm really banking on a warm weather resurgence for him after he signed a 3 year, $51.8M contract in the offseason.
Pitching Notes
Milestones:
SP Paul Skenes (80/80) opened the season with an immaculate inning, and it proved to be a sign of what's to come as he struke out 18 more batters to set a major league record 21 strike outs in a 9 inning game.
He recorded his 1000th career strikeout a month later on 4/28 against the Washington Nationals in a 7-2 win. He went 7.2 innings allowing just 4 hits and 2 earned runs while striking out 10.
Rookie pitcher Brett Crossland (42/59) was called up to make a start in the stead of SP Logan Gilbert (54/54) who was serving a 7 game suspension due to a brawl after he hit former Pirate and current Cubs 3B Jared Triolo (47/47) with a pitch.
The rookie would pick up the win, going 6 innings, allowing 6 hits, no walks and just 1 earned run while striking out 6.
Pitching tidbits:
Incoming Paul Skenes glaze. 10 starts, 9-0 1.41 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, 97 K's and just 13 BB in 70.1 IP so far in 2028. Ace of aces.
SP Will Warren (53/53) has been a welcome addition to the rotation after we moved on from SP Mel Ramos (49/49). In 6 starts and 35.1 IP, he has posted a 1.27 ERA and a 0.85 WHIP. His BB/9 with the Pirates is nearly 1 less than Mel Ramos' career mark.
SP Jared Jones (52/52) continues to be perfect 2nd ace of the staff, in 8 starts and 48.0 IP, he is 7-1 with a 2.25 ERA and a 0.81 WHIP. And while the long ball has dinged him a bit (9 allowed) they have all be solo variety homeruns, limiting the damage.
The bullpen is just full of very good arms thus far.
Closer Danny Young (47/47) has converted all 9 of his save chances, posting a 0.84 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. His walk rate is up a bit a 5.9 per 9 but that's about 1.5% higher than his career mark, early season variance.
RHP Abner Uribe (46/46) has been electric in 17 appearances and 15.1 IP he has struck out 21 batters (12.3 K/9) with a dazzling 0.59 ERA and 0.98 WHIP. His walk rate is down to just 4.7% thusfar.
LHP Yoldin De La Paz (46/46) has continued his dominance from 2027, posting a perfect 0.00 ERA in 15.0 IP, striking out 13 and walking just 2, good for a 0.73 WHIP.
RHP Dedniel Nunez (46/46) is second on the team in bullpen innings with 18.2 IP and has been just as good as the previous guys mentioned. Sporting a 0.48 ERA and 0.96 WHIP, he has struck out 20 batters while walking just 2.
Finally, LHP Caleb Ferguson (45/45) has done a good job despite low strike out numbers (6). In 13.1 IP he's not yet allowed an earned run and has a 0.82 WHIP. His FIP is 3.84 so some regression may be due.
Transactions
A couple in organization moves to talk about.
Due to a glut of talent in the infield, 3B Orelvis Martinez (45/45) was optioned to Indianapolis, LF Chris Newell (45/45) was called up in his stead.
C Jose Trevino (42/42) saw just 9 at bats before being release, C Willson Contreras (44/44) was signed to replace him, owning better offensive upside while not losing too much defensively.
Minor League Check-In
Finally a look at the farm system, Here's the current records of each level
AAA Indianapolis Indians (14-25, 10th)
AA Altoona Curve (19-14, 1st)
A+ Greensboro Grasshoppers (23-10, 1st)
A Bradenton Marauders (23-10, 1st)
FCL Pirates (3-1, 2nd)
And a look at the top 20 prospects of the system.
MLB CF Kevin Alcantara (52/63) 38 G, .248/.308/.462 8 HR, 34 RBI, .770 OPS, 116 wRC+
MLB RHP Brett Crossland (42/59) 6.0 IP, 1-0, 1.50 ERA, 6 K, 0 BB, 1.00 WHIP
MLB LF Shalin Polanco (46/49) 36 G, .295/.351/.619 10 HR, 24 RBI, .970 OPS, 168 wRC+
MLB SS Jhonny Severino (48/49) 25 G, .200/.243/.357 2 HR, 8 RBI, .600 OPS, 58 wRC+
AAA LHP Jamie Arnold (42/48) 39.0 IP, 3-4, 7.15 ERA, 40 K, 26 BB, 1.92 WHIP
AAA LHP Magdiel Cotto (44/46) 34.0 IP, 0-4, 6.88 ERA, 36 K, 19 BB, 1.79 WHIP
AAA 3B Orelvis Martinez (inj) (45/46) 13 G, .245/.339/.633 5 HR, 15 RBI, .972 OPS, 132 wRC+
AAA 2B Wyatt Sanford (42/50) 37 G, .223/.308/.362 3 HR, 7 RBI, .670 OPS, 68 wRC+
AA RF Bralyn Brazoban (39/54) 33 G, .264/.333/.550 9 HR, 34 RBI, .884 OPS, 117 wRC+
A+ LF Edward Florentino (36/44) 32 G, .320/.418/.541 6 HR, 24 RBI, .959 OPS, 159 wRC+
A+ RHP Joshua Jannicelli (32/43) 32.1 IP, 2-4, 5.01 ERA, 39 K, 15 BB, 1.64 WHIP
A+ LHP Christian Lim (34/49) 11.0 IP, 1-0, 3.27 ERA, 18 K, 4 BB, 0.91 WHIP
A+ RHP Levi Sterling (inj) (37/51) 22.0 IP, 0-2, 6.55 ERA, 26 K, 12 BB, 1.22 WHIP
A RHP Hector Gasco (inj) (34/59) 31.0 IP, 3-1, 2.61 ERA, 36 K, 13 BB, 1.35 WHIP
A LHP Ronaldys Jimenez (35/41) 35.0 IP, 3-1, 2.31 ERA, 45 K, 19 BB, 1.40 WHIP
FCL C Corey Arnold (28/44) 1 G, 1.000/1.000/1.000, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 2.000 OPS, 100 wRC+
FCL CF Trevor Bolton (25/49) 4 G, .450/.522/.800 2 HR, 6 RBI, 1.322 OPS, 244 wRC+
FCL C Art Gonsalez (25/43) 4 G, .294/.455/.294 0 HR, 5 RBI, .749 OPS, 109 wRC+
FCL LHP Steve Stainbrook (29/46) 3.1 IP, 0-1, 13.50 ERA, 3 K, 3 BB, 2.70 WHIP
INT Glen Bullock (23/51) No stats, but potential rating improved from 50 -> 51 in May.
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!
Comments