The Pittsburgh Pirates should be optimistic about the 2025 Major League Baseball season.
Pittsburgh was in the playoff race for most of the 2024 season but ultimately ended with a 76-86 record for the second season in a row. Despite this, there were positives last season for the Pirates, like the emergence of star pitcher Paul Skenes. Skenes had a historic rookie season, going 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA in 23 starts and 170 strikeouts and being named an All-Star and National League Rookie of the Year.
The Pirates also recently re-signed former MVP and fan-favorite veteran Andrew McCutchen. CBS Sports’ Dayn Perry listed Andrew McCutchen and Paul Skenes as reasons for the Pirates to have hope for the 2025 season and that Skenes should be among the favorites to win the National League Cy Young Award.
“Franchise legend Andrew McCutchen is back for his age-38 season, and this could be his final ride,” Perry wrote. “It’s of course fitting that he’s back in a Pirates uniform for a 12th season with the franchise that first drafted him back in 2005. Elsewhere, Pirates fans can look forward to a full season of young ace Paul Skenes. Skenes, 22, is coming off a rookie campaign in which he put up a 5.9 WAR in just 23 starts and 133 innings. For his efforts, he finished third in the NL Cy Young balloting.”
“He didn’t get called up until the second week of May, which, to repeat, means 2025 will be his first wire-to-wire campaign in the bigs (assuming health, of course). Is he the Cy Young favorite for 2025 in the NL? Is he already the best pitcher in baseball? Those questions can be plausibly asked, which is cause for baseball hope in the Steel City.”
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Pittsburgh has not made the playoffs since 2015, but with stars like McCutchen and Skenes leading the team, there is hope for the 2025 season.
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