Pirates Eliminated From Postseason Contention

The Padres are 28-18 against their NL West foes, while the Pirates are 24-25 against the NL Central.

Pittsburgh has just three games left against the NL Central, the St. Louis Cardinals in the final series at PNC Park, Sept. 22-24, so they can't overtake San Diego.

The Pirates also have this same issue with the Arizona Diamondbacks, who are 80-74, but are also 28-18 against the NL West, so they'd lose the tiebreaker to them too.

More Than a Decade of Futility for the Pirates

The Pirates have been one of the worst teams in baseball since 2016, with the fifth-worst record, with only the likes of the Marlins, Kansas City Royals, Chicago White Sox and Colorado Rockies putting up fewer wins.

Pittsburgh has had one winning season in that time, 82-79 in 2018, with a few collapses and some truly awful campaigns as well.

Pirates Record Per Season (2016-26)

The Pirates went 4-24 out of the 2019 All-Star break and then fired both manager Clint Hurdle and general manager Neal Huntington in the offseason.

Ben Cherington took over as general manager and Derek Shelton as manager, as the Pirates finished with the worst record in baseball in 2020 and posted back-to-back 100-loss campaigns in 2021 and 2022.

The Pirates had great starts in 2023 and 2024, even having a 55-53 in the latter season, but in-season collapses ruined their chances.

Shelton lost his job in May 2025, after a 12-26 start. Don Kelly took over and is still in the role to this day, earning a contract extension after the season.

The Pirates were in the final Wild Card Spot as late as July 27, after a 3-2 walkoff win over the Diamondbacks, but they lost seven straight series and fell as far as six games below .500 before their better play in the past month.

It's a tough end to 2026, but one that the Pirates must use to improve heading into 2027.