Record: 50-47 (41.5% playoff odds, per FanGraphs<\/a>)<\/p>\n Buy Mode<\/p>\n Potential needs: At least one high-leverage reliever (ideally two), back-end starter, right-handed bench bat<\/p>\n Lineup<\/p>\n For years, the Pirates have struggled to find enough offense to complement an excellent pitching staff. They\u2019ve had the opposite problem in 2026. Pittsburgh has had one of the three best offenses in MLB. They\u2019re tied with the Nationals for the major league lead in runs. Only the Dodgers have a higher on-base percentage and OPS. The Bucs are sixth in home runs despite playing in a pitcher-friendly park.<\/p>\n When they\u2019re at full strength, there aren\u2019t many obvious weaknesses in the order. That\u2019s an unfortunately significant caveat given the series of injuries they\u2019ve endured over the past six weeks. Oneil Cruz<\/a>,\u00a0Konnor Griffin<\/a>,\u00a0Spencer Horwitz<\/a> and\u00a0Endy Rodr\u00edguez<\/a> have all gone down since the beginning of June. Griffin won\u2019t be back until September. The others have a chance to be back by the deadline but are significant losses for the pivotal stretch of upcoming games (making their sweep of Milwaukee all the more impressive).<\/p>\n General manager Ben Cherington acknowledged after the Griffin injury that the Bucs could trade for a stopgap at shortstop. They did that just before the draft, dealing the #34 overall selection and a minor league pitcher to the White Sox for Jacob Gonzalez<\/a> and lefty reliever\u00a0Brandon Eisert<\/a>.<\/p>\n Gonzalez was pushed out of the everyday infield in Chicago with Munetaka Murakami<\/a> coming back from injury. He doesn\u2019t have any big league shortstop experience but has played there in the minors and has had a breakout season in Triple-A, where he\u2019s hitting .320\/.422\/.675 with 19 homers in 54 games. That\u2019s miles better than anything Gonzalez had done before in his three-year minor league career, so it\u2019s a bet on a relatively small sample. He\u2019ll supplant Jared Triolo<\/a> as the fill-in shortstop and could stick around as a left-handed hitting bench piece once Griffin returns.<\/p>\n
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