The Pirates finally found some offense in 2026, but they also handed opponents a pretty obvious way to take it away.
Pittsburgh jumped from the bottom of the league to sixth in runs scored with 767, finished fifth in batting average at .253, and came in sixth in OPS at .734. A lot of the heavy lifting came from the roster upgrades Ben Cherington made, including trades and signings such as Brandon Lowe and Ryan O'Hearn. Those moves gave the lineup more punch, and for the most part they worked.
But the construction came with a built-in problem: too many of the key bats hit from the left side. Spencer Horwitz and Oneil Cruz were already part of the mix, and several of the biggest additions Cherington brought in also batted left-handed. That left Pittsburgh exposed when opposing teams could line up left-handed pitching against them.
And they did.
Against lefties, the Pirates managed only a .701 OPS, good for 18th in the league. Their 25.3% strikeout rate against southpaws was the third-worst mark in baseball. Oneil Cruz was one of the few encouraging signs, hitting .326/.374/.473 against same-handed pitching, but even that came with a 37.4% strikeout rate that shows just how unstable that success was.
Cherington’s one real attempt to balance the roster last offseason was the signing of Marcell Ozuna, but that move never solved the issue. Ozuna produced a .661 OPS against lefties, and the Pirates were better once they moved on from him.
As Alex Stumpf put it on Sept. 21, 2026: “The Pirates are now 53-37 in games where Marcell Ozuna is not in the starting lineup.
It’s fair to say that signing is a big reason why this team isn’t going to be playing in October.”
That leaves Pittsburgh with a clear offseason problem, and the answer can’t be half-measures.
The Pirates need more than one fix if they want to avoid dragging the same weakness into 2027. Konnor Griffin and Rafael Flores Jr. are intriguing right-handed hitters, but banking on them alone is a dangerous way to patch a lineup flaw this big. Even if both develop the way the Pirates hope, that still may not be enough.
What Pittsburgh really needs is a proven right-handed power bat - someone who can provide the kind of production the club expected from Ozuna, but actually deliver it. The position doesn’t matter nearly as much as the profile. The bat does.
And that can’t be the only move. The bench is also too thin, especially when it comes to usable platoon pieces.
The Pirates need reserve hitters who can fit into matchup roles, come off the bench, and give Don Kelly more ways to mix and match a lineup. One or two players like that would matter, especially with a player like Cruz, whose numbers against lefties have been so far above his usual level that they can’t be treated as a sure thing going forward.
If the Pirates don’t attack the problem from multiple angles, the same script is waiting for them. Teams will keep stacking lefties, keep leaning on the same blueprint, and keep making life miserable for Pittsburgh’s offense. The message from 2026 is clear: the Pirates have to keep opposing pitchers honest in 2027, and that means bringing in help from outside the organization.
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