If you follow Pittsburgh sports, odds are you've long ago given up on your Pittsburgh Pirates. They'd been losing since the 1992 Braves put a dagger in our hearts and haven't been interesting since The Power of Zoltan launched them into three years of relevance under the leadership of a young Andrew McCutchen. Surely, anyone would lose hope. It's been a generation of losing. So, listen up, bitches. I'm here to tell you that the Bucs are back. In 2024 they were challenging for the playoffs until after the trade deadline when they went belly up like a trout in a stream full of toxic waste. They finished last in the National League Central with a record of 76-86. Yeah, same old Pirates. You are laughing at me. But I am telling you that the Pittsburgh Pirates will finish with a winning record in 2025 and challenge for the playoffs. Meaningful baseball will return to PNC Park this year even if the Bucs don't do anything in free agency. The reason is Pitching. The Bucs will have one of the top five rotations in baseball this year. It will be led by Rookie of the Year and All-Star Game Starter Paul Skenes, MLB All-Star Mitch Keller and last year's rookie phenom Jared Jones. These are three big arms and absolute horses when it comes to taking the mound.

It doesn't even matter that the remainder of the rotation consists of Bailey Falter, who was decent last year, and Johan Oviedo, who, after a promising 2023, should be on time to compete for a rotation spot this spring after returning from Tommy John surgery. Neither of the Bucs' potential # 4 and # 5 pitchers are dominating, but they can, and have shown the ability to, win games. Oh, it gets better. Consider next that perhaps the best pitching prospect in baseball, Bubba Chandler, who had 148 strike-outs in the minors last year, is banging on the clubhouse door and you begin to see a rotation that could be wicked competitive from within and feared across baseball. Thomas Herrington, Braxton Ashcraft and Mike Burrows are all highly regarded starting pitchers at AAA as well. With so much talent so close to the bigs, they'll be calling it Pitchburgh by mid-season.

The Pirates stand to win three out of five games this season on pitching alone. If they get any contribution whatsoever from the defense, bullpen or the batrack, you're looking at a team that can compete most days.

Never mind that the Pirates' offense has been awful. Last year's bullpen was also shambolic. Their fielding was 11th out of 15 National League teams last year. In my mind, it is virtually impossible for those units to do worse. Meaning: They'll improve. If not by changing out hitting coach Andy Haines for "The Hit Collector," Matt Hague, it'll be by a resurgence by the likes of Ke'Bryan Hayes and David Bednar among several others. New bats in town will be Spencer Horwitz (lefty 1b acquired via trade with Toronto) and Nick York and Billy Cook (IF/OF), both of whom surfaced in the Burgh last year and showed promise.

Then there is Pops. Old Man McCutchen returns to the scene and is still the team's third best hitter and is a joy to watch every time he steps up to the plate. Surround him with annual hit-machine Bryan Reynolds and the maturing monster that is Oneal Cruz and you might just have enough to get by. The Pirates' catching looks better now with Joey Bart having established himself there in 2024 and one of my favorites, Endy Rodriguez, returning.

I think the Pirates will be solid in 2025, defying the gravity of baseball's ridiculous economics. Now, if they go ahead and add Sasaki to this rotation... Heh-heh. I may be optimistic, but I'm not crazy.

Bucs are going to the playoffs, man. Mark it down.