The Pittsburgh Pirates didn’t make the playoffs this year, but three of their division rivals did, proving it’s possible for NL Central teams to compete with the larger market teams of the NL East and NL West.
Look no further than the Milwaukee Brewers, who finished the regular season with the best record in baseball and are now in the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Brewers and Pirates are in a similar financial tier. According to Yahoo Sports, Milwaukee entered the 2025 season ranked 23rd in Opening Day payroll, while Pittsburgh was 26th. The Cincinnati Reds, who also made the playoffs, were 22nd.
Former Pirates catcher Michael McKenry believes his old team should try to be more like the Brewers, who are only four wins away from their first World Series appearance since 1982.
“It’s a team that’s in our division, and it’s something that we can emulate,” McKenry said in late August during Milwaukee’s historic summer surge. “It’s a brand of baseball that (manager Don Kelly) is kind of showing at times. Really strong bullpen, top-tier starters at the very front and a lot of cockroaches throughout their lineup with power…We have an opportunity to be just like this team.”
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Pittsburgh already has the pitching part of it down, ranking seventh in ERA this year while Milwaukee was second. The Pirates have a long way to go on offense, however, ranking last in scoring while the Brewers were third.
Milwaukee doesn’t have a star-laden lineup, though, focusing more on depth and balance instead. Every member of the Brewers’ starting nine had at least 10 homers or 10 steals, helping the team rank third in batting average, second in OBP and second in steals.
That’s the type of offense Pittsburgh should be focused on building — a long lineup with speed, some pop and a high floor that puts the ball in play. If the Pirates do that and give their elite pitching staff some run support, there’s no reason to think they can’t be more like Milwaukee and contend for a playoff spot.
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Featured image via Benny Sieu-Imagn Images