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I love what the Pittsburgh Pirates did during the offseason, and while we can never expect every offseason move to work out, some are going to be looked at a bit worse than others. The Pirates are currently in third place in the National League Central with an 8-5 record, and have played great baseball over the past 10 games with seven wins.
Offensively speaking, the Pirates look like a team that can really put things together on that side of the baseball. If this team continues to do what they've done offensively, there's a very good chance that they're going to be a tough out come October, as crazy as that might have sounded just a few months ago.
The Pirates have all the talent to be a playoff team, but will need some veteran guys to step up.
Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report doesn't expect that to come from Marcell Ozuna, who he named the biggest problem on the Pirates roster this season, and one of their biggest regrets of the offseason.
“The early returns on the one-year, $12 million signing of Marcell Ozuna by the Pirates are ugly, as he's hitting under .100 at the time of publication.
“He was hitting .085 at the end of April 2023 for the Braves, but wound up hitting 40 home runs and driving in 100 runs. Maybe such a turnaround is in the cards for Ozuna again in 2026. More likely, though, is we're witnessing a 35-year-old that's hitting a wall. If that's the case, it's going to really burn for Pirates fans, particularly if Andrew McCutchen is able to come close to sustaining his hot start for the Texas Rangers,” he wrote.
There has understandably been some frustration about how Ozuna has swung the bat this year, as he has 10 strikeouts in 35 at-bats, zero home runs, zero RBIs, one run, and just two hits. He's currently hitting .057, and it doesn't look like that's going to turn any time soon, as he's currently one for his last 12.
Fortunately, however, the Pirates made some other impressive moves, and a lot of those have worked out to start the year.
“The good news for the Buccos is they aren't solely reliant on Ozuna, as they also acquired Brandon Lowe and Ryan O'Hearn, who are off to quick starts.”
Continue reading...
Offensively speaking, the Pirates look like a team that can really put things together on that side of the baseball. If this team continues to do what they've done offensively, there's a very good chance that they're going to be a tough out come October, as crazy as that might have sounded just a few months ago.
The Pirates have all the talent to be a playoff team, but will need some veteran guys to step up.
Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report doesn't expect that to come from Marcell Ozuna, who he named the biggest problem on the Pirates roster this season, and one of their biggest regrets of the offseason.
“The early returns on the one-year, $12 million signing of Marcell Ozuna by the Pirates are ugly, as he's hitting under .100 at the time of publication.
“He was hitting .085 at the end of April 2023 for the Braves, but wound up hitting 40 home runs and driving in 100 runs. Maybe such a turnaround is in the cards for Ozuna again in 2026. More likely, though, is we're witnessing a 35-year-old that's hitting a wall. If that's the case, it's going to really burn for Pirates fans, particularly if Andrew McCutchen is able to come close to sustaining his hot start for the Texas Rangers,” he wrote.
There has understandably been some frustration about how Ozuna has swung the bat this year, as he has 10 strikeouts in 35 at-bats, zero home runs, zero RBIs, one run, and just two hits. He's currently hitting .057, and it doesn't look like that's going to turn any time soon, as he's currently one for his last 12.
Fortunately, however, the Pirates made some other impressive moves, and a lot of those have worked out to start the year.
“The good news for the Buccos is they aren't solely reliant on Ozuna, as they also acquired Brandon Lowe and Ryan O'Hearn, who are off to quick starts.”
Continue reading...
