Pirates need to improve on these three areas in 2025

These stats are just flat out embarrassing.

With the regular season just around the corner, the Pittsburgh Pirates should have a busy time in Spring Training trying to address some of the team’s biggest issues. Though not exactly an easy task for a squad that finished last in their division, there are at least three areas that the team should try to focus on and not try to repeat in 2025.

Bullpen

The Pirates’ bullpen was one part of the team that had high hopes early on in 2024, as they invested into it heavily (for the Pirates) and seemed to have built a decent squad to pitch in relief. What followed, however. was a squad that was shaky at best, and at it’s worst could let a game get far out of reach, even when the team was ahead.

In terms of most blown saves, Pittsburgh ranked fourth for most in baseball with 29. Of the bullpen, closer David Bednar was particularly underwhelming in 2024. Coming off of two-straight All-Star appearances, “The Renegade” was regarded as one of the best closers in baseball. Time and time again, however, Bednar was one of the biggest liabilities on the team. He improved slightly as the year went on, but he and the whole bullpen have a lot of work to do to steer the ship for 2025.

Errors

Somewhere else that I think the team can actually improve upon in 2025 is the amount of errors committed as a team. The Pirates committed the ninth-most errors in baseball last season, with 91 made over the course of the season. I think now the team, while still looking for some full-time pieces, has a more solidified identity heading into this season.

For starters, Oneil Cruz is out of the infield, which will be a major lift. In his place will likely be Isaiah Kiner-Falefa, who’s one of the most versatile defenders in all of baseball, and as a former Gold Glove winner, he will standout as one of the leaders in the infield. Of course, Ke’Bryan Hayes, when healthy, is one of the best defenders in baseball as well, and the presence of Bryan Reynolds is always felt regardless of where he lines up at in the outfield.

Strike outs

The final area that the Pirates desperately need to improve on in 2025 is not going to come easy, and that’s the amount of strikeouts committed by Pittsburgh hitters. Ranking an unfortunate fourth-worst in this category, this is a major hurdle in the way of the Buccos this season.

As an organization, the team hasn’t really added any batters that jump off the stat sheet. And the hitters that the team currently has were very inconsistent last year. The team did hire former player Matt Hague to be their new hitting coach, so maybe a change of perspective and approach will help the squad, but even still, it just doesn’t feel like it’s enough.

There are obviously other things the team needs to do to tighten up their play this year, but these are all good places to start as the fans cannot endure much more of these types of performances.