The most recent poll conducted at Bucs Dugout was to gauge how fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates think the team is going to perform this season, and how many wins they believe the Buccos will have. It was a close margin, but 38% of the fans that voted believe their Pirates will have between 85-89 wins this upcoming season, just narrowly beating out the 36% of fans that believed Pittsburgh will be around 80-84 wins.
These are overwhelmingly positive results on the outlook for Pittsburgh’s season, but for once this belief in the team is by no means delusional. The Pirates’ organization went out and did the right things this winter and had a very atypical offseason. For those outside of the Pirates fanbase, this means General Manager Ben Cherington and company actually went out and tried to make this ball club better.
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Signing Ryan O’hearn was a big splash move in free-agency to bring in a former All-Star slugger who was the first free-agent to receive a multi-year contract from the Pirates since 2016 when starting pitcher Iván Nova was signed to a three-year deal worth $26 million. The Bucs didn’t stop there as they made a massive move in the trade market to acquire second baseman, Brandon Lowe, from Tampa. Not only did they add another power threat to their lineup but they finally filled the long standing vacancy at second base. With Lowe came prospects Jake Mangum and Mason Montgomery who also are in line to make an impact in 2026.
The Pirates lineup is completely transformed from 2025, as the team is looking to put to rest the horrible offense that they trotted out to earn last place honors in the NL Central. Pittsburgh would finish with a 71-91 record in 2025, and were 26 games back from the division winning Milwaukee Brewers. The Pirates in 2025 scored the fewest amount of runs in Major League Baseball while also finishing with the fewest home runs and the lowest slugging percentage.
All things considered the Pirates made many improvements to the roster for this year and sticking with first time manager Don Kelly to lead the way feels like the culture is shifting in Pittsburgh. This will be a big prove it year for Kelly and company. FanDuel Sports Network has the Pirates at -550 odds to win 70 or more games this season, with +100 odds to meet the expected 80+ wins as voted on by fans at Bucs Dugout.
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The Pittsburgh Pirates will open their regular season against the New York Mets with ace Paul Skenes getting the Opening Day start on Thursday, March 26, at 1:15 p.m. ET.