Weekly Mailbag: Mascot fight, 2026 rotation, World Series?

Who would win in a NL Central mascot brawl? future rotation questions and more questions in this weeks mailbag.

Photo Credit: WTM

Wabbit Season: Here's a BucsOnDeck Challenge: Not this year. Not next year. But the next year! What is the starting rotation in 2026? 5 names only. No hedging! Go.

I’m not usually one to think this far into the future, my only goal is to focus on the now, and report what I am seeing in the moment. When it comes to covering prospects, some things are just ‘part of the beast,’ and looking into the future is one of them.

Looking at what the 2026 Opening Day rotation, and a lot of it will be determined at what they do with Mitch Keller. Let’s say they extend him, this is what the rotation could look like - in a perfect world;

Keller

Paul Skenes

Thomas Harrington

Anthony Solometo

Bubba Chandler

It’s far from a perfect world, and some prospects won’t work out. The idea that they will have a rotation made up entirely of home-grown prospects is also a little out there as well.

If the Pirates are competing, then you slide a free agent or two in there. Who you cut really depends on your preference of what you see now, but I’ll go with my answer above and say Jared Jones is a lights-out late-inning reliever and call it a day.

AdministrativeSky236: Who would win in a brawl of all of the mascots in the division? This is inspired by a post I saw that has Steely McBeam as an S tier fighter in the NFL.

Which would be more exciting, an all-out brawl between each of the five mascots or a 5-on-5 between the Milwaukee racing sausages and the Pirates’ Pierogies? Part of me wants to say the 5-on-5 between Pittsburgh and Milwaukee.

I think, unfortunately if we are looking at mascots, I’d have to go between Bernie Brewer and Mr. Redlegs solely based on the Staches. They have the old-school fisticuffs look to them.

Joesolo: Are we the fans ever going to see the Pirates in the playoffs or better yet competing for a World Series title? Too many years have gone by with the Pirates having high draft choices that have not produced. The Pirates finally changed their approach to signing high end international prospects instead of signing quantity instead of quality, so perhaps there is still hope. Is there? I am starting to doubt it.

They’ve done it before, so I don’t see why they couldn’t now or at some point. The truth is, it’s a 162-game season and then the playoffs. So much can happen between all of that.

Even if you do everything right regarding signings and development, so much can happen on the field over an entire season that is impossible to actually prepare for.

I don’t want to tell you to pack it in and give up, but I also don’t want to give you false hope. The Pirates can certainly be competitive in the coming years, but a lot has to go right, which can also be said for the majority of the small market teams.

Maybe that answer was more gloom than just saying they have no shot, so sorry.

George Hareras: I know you have an article on Priester coming out soon, however, I do have a question. The eye test says his stuff looks good. Maybe his fastball is a little flat, but we’ve seen him get through the first few innings easily. Then the wheels come off the second time through the order. Is this more of a mental issue trying to deal with the opposing team adjusting to him or is he really that hittable?

The first part should be answered in Tuesday’s feature, so I’ll leave it to that.

When it comes to the next part, simply put, it’s hard to pitch in the majors. You have to face the best of the best every time you step on the mound.

The ones who stick around push back when they are pushed at the highest levels and the ones who don’t simply don’t stick around.

Priester is still young and got a decent taste in the majors last season. He will now get an opportunity to push back and make adjustments. He has to find out what works for him in the majors and utilize it.

It reminds me of my conversation with Thomas Harrington late last season. He almost seemed like two different pitchers between Bradenton and Greensboro. When I asked him about it, he said it was just part of the process of learning what works for him and what doesn’t.

QP has quite the arsenal of pitches, if he adjusts how to use it (hint towards Tuesday’s article) he can very much become an effective major league pitcher.

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Every Monday during the offseason, we will be doing a mailbag article. Please send in your questions to have them answered! Either comment below with ‘mailbag’ entered in the message or email us at bucsondeckqa@gmail.com.

I look forward to answering what you guys have!