Ryan O'Hearn got one more bit of business done before the Pittsburgh Pirates closed the book on 2026.
In the season finale at Comerica Park on Sept. 27, O'Hearn crossed the 450-plate-appearance mark and triggered a $100,000 bonus as the Pirates beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-2, to lock in a winning season. He reached the incentive in his second trip to the plate, in the third inning.
That extra money came after a season in which O'Hearn missed time but still gave Pittsburgh plenty to build on. Injuries interrupted his year, first with a right quad muscle strain that cost him 13 games in May, then a left quad strain that sidelined him for 36 games from August into mid-September.
When he came back on Sept. 11, there were 15 games left and he sat at 398 plate appearances, needing at least 52 more to hit the bonus threshold. The Pirates gave him every chance to get there. He appeared in 14 games and started all 14, then moved him up the lineup in the final two contests to help pad his plate-appearance total.
For the first time in his MLB career, O'Hearn led off on Sept. 26 in a 4-3 loss to the Tigers. The next day, he hit second.
That approach stood out because it was a clear departure from how the Pirates handled Rowdy Tellez in late 2024, when they designated him for assignment four plate appearances shy of 425, the number that would have unlocked a $200,000 bonus.
O'Hearn, of course, is a different player and a more valuable one. Pittsburgh signed him this offseason to a two-year, $29 million deal, its first multi-year free agent contract in almost a decade.
The numbers backed up why the Pirates made that bet. Over 110 games, O'Hearn hit .265/.330/.440 with a .770 OPS, 108 hits, 17 doubles, 18 home runs and 76 RBI, all career highs for him in home runs and RBI.
His first half was the best stretch of his season. Before the All-Star break, he was batting .288/.351/.487 with an .838 OPS in 82 games, collecting 88 hits, 13 doubles, 16 home runs and 63 RBI.
That run included one of the loudest games of the season, when he blasted three home runs and drove in 10 in the Pirates' 12-4 win over the Atlanta Braves at PNC Park on July 7. That made him the first Pirate and the 11th player in MLB history with double-digit RBI in a game.
The second half told a different story. O'Hearn hit just .198/.268/.297 for a .565 OPS, and the injury that kept him out for six weeks clearly took a toll on his production.
The Pirates will need the first-half version of O'Hearn in 2027, and he heads into the offseason with a clear target: get back to the hitter he was before the injuries and late-season slump.
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