The Pittsburgh Pirates are a team that can surprise some people in 2025.
Pittsburgh took a step in the right direction in 2024 and could be even better next year. The reason why the Pirates are positioned to take a leap in 2025 is because of the fact that Pittsburgh has some of the most intriguing young talent in baseball.
In 2025, the Pirates’ young stars will have another year under their belts, starting with ace Paul Skenes. He took the baseball world by storm in 2024 after being selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 Major League Baseball June Amateur Draft. It didn’t take him long to make the jump to the big leagues and unsurprisingly he shined.
Skenes made 23 starts for the Pirates last season and logged an eye-popping 1.93 ERA en route to winning the National League Rookie of the Year Award and starting the All-Star Game. He had a 170-to-32 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 133 innings pitched at just 22 years old.
Pittsburgh is building something special and what should be scary for opposing teams is that General Manager Ben Cherington thinks Skenes could unlock “another level” in 2025.
Story continues below advertisement
“The cool thing about him is he’s getting after it right now to get better,” Cherington said. “There’s pitch design he’s doing this offseason to try to get even better. We think there’s even another level, certainly he thinks there’s another level. We’re excited about him and the rest of our staff and what they’re capable of doing for us next year.”
Pittsburgh won 76 games in 2024. With another year under Skenes and the rest of the young players’ belts, it wouldn’t be shocking to see the Pirates exceed this win total in 2025.
More MLB: Pirates Land Sweet-Swinging Shortstop In Early 2025 MLB Mock Draft
Featured image via Charles LeClaire/Imagn Images