Cholowsky got in 9 games, Lackey got into 25 and already jumed a level, Rose got 19, Burress got into 28 - even our 2nd Rounder Rembert got into 18 games.
Did I miss something or was he injured when we drafted him?
Last season, the Buccos’ offense finished with 583 runs – dead last in MLB. This season they put up 767 and jumped 24 spots. From my random fangraphs scrolling, this is the biggest rankings jump ever.
I appreciate modern baseball statistics as much as the next guy, but sometimes I just want to know if we actually scored more. If someone wants to do an exhaustive analysis of year to year wRC+ improvements and then weight each season’s run environment, cool. But for now I am just gonna say that the 2026 Pirates are the most improved offense in baseball history . . . or at least since 1977.
Hell of a season guys!
The yearly Fangraphs' evaluation of the Pirates system is probably the most comprehensive evaluation out there. Lots of praise for our big four, but the more interesting part is that this evaluations goes 50 prospects deep.
Half of this sub has been screaming that "Jones only has two pitches and belongs in the bullpen". It seems that pitch development takes time and Jones' minor league usage shows some interesting adjustments. This is a small sample size, but it will be interesting to see how this mix plays this season.
| Pitch | 2024 Usage% | 2026 Usage% | 2024 Stuff+ | 2026 Stuff+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4-Seam | 49.20% | 40.0% | 108 | 108 |
| Slider | 34.90% | 27.7% | 109 | 114 |
| Changeup | 9.30% | 20.8% | 103 | 108 |
| Curveball | 6.50% | 9.2% | 102 | 108 |
| Sinker | 0.10% | 2.3% | 101 | 104 |
The offensive turn around has been great, but I just have this nagging feeling like its all going to come crashing down. So, I looked to BABIP to see if we are just getting lucky.
Of the 10 hitters with over 95PA, 7 of them the BABIP over .300, and some significantly. The counter is that we have a lot of guys who historically produce over .300 BABIP (Jake Mangum is a BABIP savant). Averaged across these 10 hitters, they have a career .306 BABIP and this season they have a combined .306 BABIP.
Dare I say that we haven't been lucky and this offense is performing as it should? Just looking that this, I think so.
| 2026 BABIP | Career BABIP | Diff | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Gonzales | .383 | .321 | -.062 |
| Oneil Cruz | .368 | .318 | -.05 |
| Konnor Griffin | .368 | .368 | .--- |
| Jake Mangum | .344 | .345 | .001 |
| Ryan O'Hearn | .325 | .298 | -.027 |
| Bryan Reynolds | .315 | .326 | .011 |
| Spencer Horwitz | .304 | .308 | .004 |
| Brandon Lowe | .267 | .292 | .025 |
| Marcell Ozuna | .235 | .267 | .032 |
| Henry Davis | .149 | .221 | .072 |
