{"id":388188,"date":"2026-01-04T19:27:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T19:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/388188\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T19:27:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T19:27:09","slug":"espns-pirates-hype-train-may-have-gone-a-stop-too-far","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/388188\/","title":{"rendered":"ESPN\u2019s Pirates hype train may have gone a stop too far"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here we go again, Pirates fans. National media has discovered Pittsburgh \u2014 and this time, ESPN didn\u2019t just climb aboard the hype train. They punched a first-class ticket, stuck their heads out the window, and declared the Buccos not only playoff-bound\u2026but National League Central champs<\/a> in 2026.<\/p>\n

Look \u2014 it’s great that the Pirates’ front office finally realized you need more than vibes and pitching prospects to score runs. And yes \u2014 they should absolutely be in the playoff conversation in 2026. That part of ESPN\u2019s prediction? Totally fair.<\/p>\n

But winning the division? Let\u2019s maybe pump the brakes before we start hanging any banners in PNC Park.<\/p>\n

Giving credit where it\u2019s due, the Pirates’ offense really has improved. Ryan O\u2019Hearn brings professional at-bats <\/a>and lefty pop. Brandon Lowe brings legit power. Jake Mangum brings speed and baseline competence. Jhostynxon Garcia brings upside.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, last year\u2019s Pirates lineup finished dead last in runs scored and had two hitters above league average by wRC+. Two! And one of them was Spencer Horwitz. So yeah \u2014 adding Lowe\u2019s 114 wRC+ and O\u2019Hearn\u2019s 127 wRC+ actually matters. A lot. <\/p>\n

And that doesn\u2019t even touch Konnor Griffin<\/a> \u2014 baseball\u2019s No. 1 prospect \u2014 who might do his best Paul Skenes impression and simply show up sometime in May<\/a> and refuse to leave. Add all of this to a pitching staff that already finished seventh in MLB ERA with the reigning Cy Young winner, and yes \u2014 the Pirates finally look like a team built to compete.<\/p>\n

The Wild Card bar keeps rising. ESPN is right \u2014 83 wins probably won\u2019t cut it. But the Pirates don\u2019t need to leap from irrelevant to dominant overnight. They just need to become consistently good. And unlike past \u201cthis is our year\u201d moments, this actually feels sustainable.<\/p>\n

Pirates could be realistic playoff contenders in 2026, but not as NL Central champs<\/p>\n

The leap from the bottom of the division to Wild Card contenders \u2014 while big \u2014 is at least logical. But division champs? Let’s be real.<\/p>\n

The NL Central might not be loaded \u2014 but it isn\u2019t some neighborhood Wiffle ball division either. The Cincinnati Reds made the playoffs last year after winning 83 games. The Chicago Cubs still exist, and they still have money. The Milwaukee Brewers are like cockroaches<\/a> \u2013\u2013 forever competitive, no matter who leaves.<\/p>\n

And the Pirates? They\u2019re still learning how to win. There\u2019s a difference between being good and being ready to win a division over six months of baseball.<\/p>\n

Winning divisions require depth that survives injuries, star power that carries slumps, proven lineup length and in-season aggressiveness. The Pirates may have taken steps toward that, but they have yet to prove that they can actually do it. And that’s okay! They have to walk before they can run.<\/p>\n

The Pirates have been rebuilding for so long that ESPN predicting them to win the division feels like a plot twist from a baseball multiverse. But while fans should definitely expect meaningful baseball this year, let’s not demand a crown before this team has shown they can consistently take punches and answer back.<\/p>\n

This Pirates team finally looks like a postseason threat. But until they prove it across 162 games, calling them division favorites feels like skipping a chapter in the story. Let them earn that. If they do? It’ll be that much sweeter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Here we go again, Pirates fans. National media has discovered Pittsburgh \u2014 and this time, ESPN didn\u2019t just…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":388189,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,462,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-388188","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=388188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388188\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/388189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=388188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=388188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=388188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}