103 Comments
User's avatar
Mick's avatar

85-77 last team in

Pitcher -Skenes17-4 2.22

Hitter- Jack Suwinski 270/350/465 28 HR 95 RBI

Breakout player- Nicky Stix 295/360/405 18 HR

Gold glove back to Key

Horowitz solidifies 1B for years to come.

Expand full comment
Scott Kliesen's avatar

88-74. NL Central Champs.

Pitcher of Year - Paul Skenes 22-5, 2.15 ERA, 222 SO’s.

Hitter of Year - O’Neil Cruz .265/345/520, 34 HR, 101 RBI, 44 SB

Breakout Player - Endy Rodriquez .270/330/401, 15 HR, 62 RBI, 18 SB

NOTE - Bryan Reynolds will also have 30 HR & 100 RBI season.

Expand full comment
pskell02's avatar

86 wins. Hague proves to be a competent hitting coach and wins team MVP. Is that a thing?

Hitter - Nicky Sticks. Gonna hit .300 with a .825 OPS

Pitcher - Mr. Dunne

Breakout - Endy. No reason, he's just gonna be good

Let's Go Bucs! One more sleep to game 1!

Expand full comment
Robert Kasperski's avatar

My Dad had said the last few years that he probably would never live to see a Pirates team win in the playoffs again. He passed a few weeks back ay 91. That means the Bucs are gonna do what Lou Brown said his team would do, give all the doubters a big ol shit burger to eat and go 89-73, make the playoffs and win at least one series. My dad seemed to just miss things.

Cruz top hitter

Skenes who else for Pircher and

Hank for breakout player

Expand full comment
Aurorus Borealus's avatar

Sorry to hear about your dad.

Expand full comment
Robert Kasperski's avatar

Thanks. Lived a good life. Was very good mentally till the end and no agony at the end. What he always wanted. Just sucked that all 3 pro teams sucked for him. Had fun laughing at em all the way games were lost.

Expand full comment
WTM's avatar

JJ — UCL sprain. No surgery, no baseball for six weeks.

Expand full comment
bmcferren's avatar

isnt that what took down wandy from time to time?

Expand full comment
1979andCounting's avatar

Stratton to Indy. That leaves Strzzzl, Wentz, Mayza for 2 spots.

Expand full comment
Joshua Johnson's avatar

Wentz and Mayza…happy they kept Wentz he earned it. bae and suwinski also made it as assumed.

Expand full comment
bmcferren's avatar

woohoo!

Expand full comment
1979andCounting's avatar

I remember in Nov. we had zero rostered LH in the bullpen. Nice job getting to 4 for OD. Just hope they can all be effective vs RH batters too. We've NEVER had this many southpaw in the pen! But I like them 3 of them, just meh on Mayza.

Expand full comment
WTM's avatar
Mar 26Edited

So Strzelecki dfa’d?

(And I just discovered spellcheck, which can’t spell anything else right, CAN spell Strzelecki. Wtf?)

Expand full comment
Melkel's avatar

He has been dfa'd.

Expand full comment
Robert Kasperski's avatar

Might I suggest doing what we did when Rob Zasttyzny——Instead of Z-man. It would be S-man.

Expand full comment
WTM's avatar

Don’t think it’ll be a concern for long.

Expand full comment
Robert Kasperski's avatar

lol! I know but you know there will be another guy come along with lots of letters in his name and very few vowels… just planning 😁

Expand full comment
WTM's avatar

Need a guy with all vowels. Even it out.

Expand full comment
Scott Kliesen's avatar

162-0 until they ain’t!

Expand full comment
HeyFred's avatar

Still waiting on those last roster moves.....

14 fielders still in camp. Who gets optioned, Bae or Suwinski? Or do they simply cut ties with someone (cough..frazier..cough)?

17 pitchers, although three (Oviedo, Moreta and Jones) will go to the 60 day. That leaves one to move -- my guess is Strzelzcki DFA, unless they can park another guy on the 60.

And if they claim someone else's castoff (waiver wire is busy today) they'll have to make additional moves.

Expand full comment
Melkel's avatar

Horwitz to the regular IL, I think only one move for the pitching side after Jones goes to the 60.

Expand full comment
HeyFred's avatar

Thanks -- I keep forgetting that regular IL doesn't count for the 26.

Expand full comment
Mel Schuster - emjayinTN's avatar

Good patterns by most to pick players who showed well last year like Oneil Cruz, Bryan Reynolds, Joey Bart, and/or Andrew McCutchen as the Best Hitter for 2025. Even the possibility of Ke'Bryan Hayes returning to 2023 numbers would be a possibility for that title.

Breakout is a category for kids just getting started in MLB and showing they belong - Yorke, Cook, and possibly Endy with about 200 PA's, but I am iffy on a guy like Davis who has about 340 PA. Gonzales has already had over 500 PA over two years, so could doing better in 2025 than he did in 2023/2024 be termed a breakout?

Expand full comment
pskell02's avatar

Depends. Does he break out or just have a better season? My assumption means marked improvement over previous performance.

Expand full comment
Bianco599's avatar

84-78. My pops would have been 84 today.

At some point we say "down goes Frazier" when optioned. Pham helps Cruz get in the MVP discussion. They make a Skenes commercial like the old Oliver Perez one. Endy does a Biggio (Craig not Canaan or whatever). Nick g slides to SS. Horwitz becomes a fan favorite. And boldly they hire Billy Cook as player/manager after the all star break when Shelton gets canned. They find a loophole so he doesn't have to be on the 26 man. That's when they go a record setting winning streak.

Book it

Expand full comment
Richard Barish's avatar

Pham helps Cruz get in the MVP discussion? You mean Pham makes Cruz look like an MVP in comparison?

Expand full comment
TNBucs's avatar

A lot of optimism for a team that ranks 26th overall in positional rankings:

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2025-positional-power-rankings-summary/

I'm excited too, but more along the lines that I'm looking forward to seeing how so many high beta guys perform. Surely there will be some success stories from (in rough order of my excitement to see them) Endy, Jack, Bubba, Bae, Horwitz, Davis, Hayes, Harrington, Gonzales, Yorke, and Aschcraft...it should be fun to watch. And Cruz and Skenes could have monster seasons--get 10+ combined WAR from those two and we could be on our way.

Still too many questions, and too many strong teams at the top of the NL, for me to predict contention. But we're a game up on the NL Central favorites, so who knows?

Expand full comment
NMR's avatar

https://www.fangraphs.com/depthcharts.aspx?position=Standings

The Pittsburgh Pirates enter Opening Day within four wins of the projected Division champs.

Expand full comment
NMR's avatar

82-80, the exact record the 2024 club would've had if they simply blew as many saves as they did in 2023.

I'm gonna be stubborn on this because they admittedly haven't done a damn thing to give me more confidence in their 2025 pen, but I'm banking on probability that it it'll swing in our favor this year.

Expand full comment
Aurorus Borealus's avatar

Lawrence is going to shove! Bank on it.

Expand full comment
NMR's avatar

the next kent tekulve, many people are saying it.

Expand full comment
Arky Wags's avatar

And you picked the Reds to win the division, right? (Ducks).

Expand full comment
NMR's avatar

Man it sucks seeing those vaunted Reds bats all the way up at number three in the positional rankings TN just posted.

Wait, hold on, smudge on my glasses...that's *twenty* three. Just two spots ahead of the worst fucking offense in the history of baseball, your Pittsburgh Pirates.

Expand full comment
Arky Wags's avatar

Oneil will out-Cruz Elly this year.

Expand full comment
NMR's avatar

BOOK IT.

Expand full comment
Melkel's avatar

Free Pizza!!!

Expand full comment
AdministrativeSky236's avatar

85-77 this year. Cruz-Skenes-Horwitz-Suwinski/Hayes/Bednar

This year we are carried by a much better supporting cast, aka bouncebacks from Suwinski, Hayes, and Bednar. That put us over the hump and deep in the wild card hunt.

Bold prediction: BMac accidentally releases the names of 2 sources on a BoD squad gameday thread

Expand full comment
Jim's avatar

Last year I predicted Davis would hit 30 HRs and he ended up with 1. So, i predict he will hit 1 this year.

Expand full comment
WTM's avatar

Official site says “Justin Lawrence changed number to 61.” Does that mean he made the team?

Expand full comment
Aurorus Borealus's avatar

I am an idiot, and I approve of this message.

Expand full comment
1979andCounting's avatar

Yep. I saw it on Sports Illustrated.

Expand full comment
Arky Wags's avatar

86-76 and WS champs over the Tigers in seven games in the Rust Belt Classic. Chandler vs Jobe in Game 7.

Expand full comment
AdministrativeSky236's avatar

Subscribe

Expand full comment