How Pirates went from baseball's worst offense to one of the best

Thanks to the Pittsburgh Pirates' 14-5 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday, they were able to sweep the National League Central Division leaders and go into the All-Star break having won seven of their past 10 games with a 50-47 record. It is their most wins at the All-Star Break since 2016, and puts them right in the thick of the National League playoff race.

The biggest factor in their relative success this season is an offense that has gone from the absolute worst in baseball in 2025 to one of its absolute best in 2026. 

None of that is an exaggeration.

They finished the 2025 season 30th in runs scored, 30th in home runs and 30th in OPS. It wasted what was a strong pitching season and kept them near the bottom of the league standings.

It has been a complete 180 this season. After Sunday's win, the Pirates go into the break tied with the Washington Nationals for the most runs scored in the league (516), are second in OPS (.768) behind only the Los Angeles Dodgers and sixth in home runs (125). Their home run total has already exceeded their entire 2025 total, while they are on track to be one of the best offensive teams in the 145-year history of the franchise. 

Here is how they turned it around.

1. The Pirates spent some money

While the Pirates are still one of baseball's lowest-spending teams, they actually made something of an effort this offseason.

They acquired second baseman Brandon Lowe and outfielder Jake Mangum (along with relief pitcher Mason Montgomery) from the Tampa Bay Rays in an offseason trade.

They signed veteran outfielder/first baseman/designated hitter Ryan O'Hearn to a two-year contract, making him the first free agent to get a multi-year contract from the Pirates in over a decade.

They signed Marcell Ozuna to a one-year deal.

While some of those moves have worked better (Lowe, O'Hearn, Mangum) than others (Ozuna), they added close to $30 million in payroll and have provided some serious offense.

Lowe is one of the best hitting second basemen in baseball. O'Hearn has been a professional middle-of-the-order bat, while Mangum has been a serviceable bench/fourth outfield bat. 

They needed external help, and they got it.

2. Bounce back years from returning players

One of the biggest factors in the Pirates' brutal 2025 offensive performance was terrible years from outfielders Bryan Reynolds and Oneil Cruz.

Both players have bounced back in a big way this season.

Reynolds has been one of baseball's most productive outfielders this season with an .877 OPS going into the break (sixth best in baseball), while Cruz has started to realize all of his enormous potential and emerged as a serious power-speed threat. Before a recent injury, he was on track for a 30-30 season with an .822 OPS in center field.

Nick Gonzales also deserves a mention here for starting to realize some of his potential, giving the Pirates a .308 average and .761 OPS at third base. 

3. Young players emerging

The expectation at the start of the season was that shortstop Konnor Griffin might be the big arrival from the prospect pool. And while he has been having a strong rookie season before a finger injury sidelined him, he has not been the best rookie in Pittsburgh.

That honor currently goes to outfielder Esmerlyn Valdez, who has been off to an incredible start through his first 30 games and now finds himself hitting in the clean-up spot and producing like a bona fide middle-of-the-order hitter. He was a good prospect entering the season. Nobody expected quite this much from the 22-year-old outfielder. 

Catcher Endy Rodriguez has also started to reach his full potential at the plate.

All of these things together have turned the Pirates into one of baseball's most formidable and imposing lineups. They still have more help on the way with the eventual returns of Cruz, first baseman Spencer Horwitz and Rodriguez (all of whom are currently sidelined). 

They currently have 11 players with an OPS+ over 100 (with 100 being a league-average hitter). A year ago, they had one (Horwitz). That includes seven players with an OPS+ over 118. They had zero a year ago. This lineup can compete. They just need the starting pitching staff and bullpen to catch up to them.