PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates haven't had the season many fans would've wanted, but general manager Ben Cherington still has high hopes for the season.
The Pirates are 19-35 overall, 13.5 games behind the Chicago Cubs in first place of the National League Central Division, 11.5 games behind the San Diego Padres in the last NL Wild Card spot and hold the fourth worst record in the MLB.
Pittsburgh also fired manager Derek Shelton following a 12-27 start, ending a tenure that saw the team finish no higher than fourth in the NL Central and 10 games below .500.
The Pirates haven't made the playoffs since 2015, which capped a three-year streak of making the postseason, which separates 20 straight losing seasons, a North American sports record and just four seasons above .500 since 1992.
Cherington, who took over in late 2019 like Shelton, maintains his confidence in the team getting back to winning ways and doing so consistently in 2025.
“We believe we can play winning baseball in 2025 and that’s what we’re focused on," Cheringon said on his radio show. "In saying that, I’m saying that is outside, whatever the record is on paper, Like, whatever the record is, we believe in 2025 we can, and certainly focused on playing winning baseball. We believe we can get to a team, and do the work to get to a team that is playing winning baseball."
The Pirates have had more success under new manager Don Kelly, going 7-9 and 6-4 at PNC Park over three series, but still have a long way back to contending this season.
Cherington sees the Pirates as a team that will play quality baseball and win more games often than not this season, which is why his goal of making the playoffs is still the same in 2025.
“Exactly. What that means for our record at the end of the season, I don’t know," Cherington said. "What that means for our record at the end of July, I don’t know. We’ll find out, but that’s the first thing and underneath that, yes, of course, there’s going to be some more specific priorities and goals and yes of course we want to see and help younger players develop and improve and become part of the core of the team, we’ll create an opportunity for that, but just as much, we want to put veteran players in a position to succeed too and that’s a part of it."
"Underneath that highest level goal, there will be specific priorities and things we look to do as the season goes on, but it all bubbles up to the same thing. We want to be playing winning baseball, as fast as we possibly can, in a way that gives us a chance to keep getting better and we want to be talk about pushing into the postseason. Nothing’s changed and we want to get to that as fast as we possibly can.”
More must-reads: