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Apr 19, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Ben Cherington observes batting practice before the game against the Cleveland Guardians at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Pirates President Shows Support For GM Ben Cherington

Originally posted on Pittsburgh Pirates on SI
By Dominic Campbell | Last updated Sep 30, 2025 11:00 AM ET

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates had a poor season in 2025, but one member of the front office has faith in the team succeeding next season, with the general manager there to lead the way.

Pirates general manager Ben Cherington spoke to the media and said that he would return in 2026, after the franchise announced signing manager Don Kelly to an extension on Sept. 29.

Cherington took over as the Pirates general manager on Nov. 18, 2019, coming in place of Neal Huntington and hoping to guide the franchise through a tough rebuild, after a poor end to the decade.

The Pirates haven't had any success under Cherington, with their best record at 76-86 overall in both 2023 and 2024, the worst record in baseball in 2020 at 19-41, plus back-to-back 100-loss seasons in 2021 and 2022.

Pittsburgh also finished 71-91 overall in 2025, the fifth worst record in baseball and a last place finish in the National League Central Division, marking the fifth time in six seasons they've finished bottom of their division.

The Pirates do have a strong pitching staff, with All-Star Paul Skenes, veteran Mitch Keller, Johan Oviedo back from injury and rookies in 2025 in Braxton Ashcraft, Hunter Barco, Mike Burrows and Bubba Chandler.

It also features a solid bullpen, with the likes of Justin Lawrence, Isaac Mattson, Carmen Mlodzinski and Dennis Santana.

The biggest issue for the Pirates this past season was their hitting, as they ranked towards or at the bottom of most offensive metrics in baseball.

This includes the lowest slugging percentage (.350) and OPS (.655), the third lowest batting average (.231) and the eighth lowest on-base percentage (.305).

The Pirates also scored the least runs (583) and drove in the least RBIs (561), both lower than the 43-119 Colorado Rockies. They also hit the least home runs (117), 31 home runs less than then second-lowest team in the St. Louis Cardinals at 148 home runs.

Pirates president Travis Williams also spoke to the media after the Kelly extension and on why they kept Cherington for the 2026 season.

Williams showed his support in Cherington, as he's built a strong collection of pitchers and also a good farm system, highlighted by the top prospect in baseball in shortstop Konnor Griffin.

He also said that the goal is to make the playoffs in 2026 and that keeping Cherington on puts them on the right track towards doing that.

"I think given where this team is at this point in time, the strengths that we have in terms of our pitching staff, the young core of position players that we have and what we have in our farm system coming up, we felt at the end of the day that making any changes as a general manager would set us back. It's not what our fans expect, that's not what we expect.

"We're looking in 2026 to make the playoffs. Period. Full stop. We did not want to veer from that. We're pushing it all in to make sure we're able to make the playoffs in 2026."