#pittsburgh-pirates

#pittsburgh-pirates

They've spoken in the past about wanting to lure more free agents and make impact additions in the lineup, but both comments from Pittsburgh brass and the reporting surrounding their early offseason endeavors struck a different tenor. The Pirates' reported willingness to offer Josh Naylor in the vicinity of $80MM was a genuine surprise, given the lack of spending to which we've become accustomed from owner Bob Nutting.

After making his MLB debut in the form of a single inning of work for the Rockies during the 2022 season, Davis has now played in each of the last four Major League seasons, albeit with not a ton more playing time than that initial cup-of-coffee appearance. Davis has 27 games and 62 1/3 innings under his belt, with a 9.53 ERA, 18.5% strikeout rate, and 9.2% walk rate.

The Pirates are designating reliever Chase Shugart for assignment, reports Jason Mackey of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. They needed to create a 40-man roster spot for Ryan O'Hearn, whose two-year free agent contract was finalized this afternoon. Pittsburgh acquired Shugart in a minor trade with the Red Sox last offseason. The Texas product had only six games of MLB experience at the time. He made it into 35 contests in his first and potentially only season as a Pirate.

Most notable is the hiring of Thomas Whitsett as an assistant pitching coach under Bill Murphy. Whitsett has ties to Murphy from the Houston organization. He had coached in the Astros system as a pitching coordinator and was most recently their Triple-A pitching coach in 2024. Whitsett had come through the college ranks after working at the University of Arizona. This is his first job on a big league staff.

Soto, 30, spent the 2025 season split between the Baltimore Orioles and New York Mets. In his tenure with the American League East team, the lefty posted a 3.96 ERA and 3.33 FIP in 36.1 innings pitched, with a 27.5 K% and an 11.3 BB%. Before the 2025 trade deadline, he was sent to the Mets, where he had a 4.50 ERA and 3.55 FIP in 24 innings pitched, with a 21.8 K% and 5 BB%.

The right-hander has just 11 MLB appearances on his resume between the 2020 and '21 seasons. He posted an 8.64 ERA in six appearances for the Tigers at the big league level before being plucked off waivers from the Twins in 2021 and turning in a 12.54 ERA across 9 1/3 frames for Minnesota. Burrows has identical 12.5% strikeout and walk rates for his career and has allowed eight home runs in 17 2/3 career innings of work.

The Pirates enter this winter on a quest to augment their offense in a way that could allow them to contend while superstar hurler Paul Skenes is still in town. Skenes is backed by a solid group of pitching options, including veteran Mitch Keller as well as young arms like Braxton Ashcraft and Bubba Chandler in the rotation along with closer Dennis Santana in the bullpen.

Marin, who served as the Pirates' pitching coach from 2020-25, will take over for Matt Tracy, who's moved from bullpen coach to assistant pitching coach. Last year's assistant pitching coach, Simon Mathews, was hired away as the Nationals' new pitching coach earlier this week. Marin broke into pro ball back in 2010 with the Rangers, working as a coach and assistant in their minor league ranks for seven years.

"We have put ourselves in a position based on the improvement we made in 2025," Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix said, per The Athletic. "We think we can put together a really exciting team for 2026 and also continue our quest to build a foundation of talent at all levels that will allow us to stay good for a long period of time."

He cares deeply about this community and our fans, and he's genuinely driven to take on the challenge of bringing winning baseball back to Minnesota.

"We've seen firsthand the trust and respect he earns from players and how he helps them reach their best," Twins president Derek Falvey said in a statement. "His journey, through both the successes and the tough stretches, has given him real perspective as a leader. That balance and his connection to what this place means to people will serve our players and staff well as we work to build something lasting for our fans and for Minnesota."

The Pirates are making several changes to their coaching staff. Pitching coach Oscar Marin will not have his contract renewed, as first reported by Jon Heyman of The New York Post. Assistant pitching coach Brent Strom and third-base coach Mike Rabelo will also not be returning, per Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. It was earlier reported that GM Ben Cherington and manager Don Kelly would remain in their current roles.

Donnie has earned the respect of the players, front office, and our fans -- and he has certainly earned mine,

With two outs in the top of the seventh in a 5-2 game with the Pirates leading, the skies suddenly opened up at Truist Park and prompted a rain delay between the Atlanta Braves and Pittsburgh. Keep it right here as we will provide updates and let you know when things are scheduled to get back underway.

The Reds are still in the Postseason hunt here in the final stages of the season and they could ill-afford a series loss to the Pirates of all teams. Yet, it happened! The pitchers' duel between Paul Skenes and Hunter Greene delivered some prime entertainment. Pittsburgh put up those two runs against Greene while Skenes was nearly untouchable for six innings.

The Pirates are calling up pitching prospect Hunter Barco, reports Brent Martineau of CBS47/FOX30. The Bucs will need to make corresponding moves to open active and 40-man roster spots for the lefty.

It's the first promotion of the season for the 23-year-old Yorke. He first reached the majors as a September call-up late last season. He hit .216 with a pair of home runs in 11 games. Pittsburgh optioned him back to Triple-A at the end of Spring Training. Yorke has spent the entire season in Indianapolis, where he has been on the active roster aside from a week on the injured list with a sore shoulder in the middle of April.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Pirates general manager Ben Cherington to discuss... What attracted Cherington to a smaller market like Pittsburgh (2:40) Why have the Pirates been so much better at developing pitching than hitting? (5:10) The choice of picking Paul Skenes first overall in 2023 (9:05) The Pirates not having signed a free agent to a multi-year deal in many years (13:45) Is there a sense of urgency for the Pirates to make something happen in the near future? (16:20) The balance of subtracting pitching to add hitting (18:45) What percentage of rumors that make it to the public are based in fact? (22:30)

Griffin has taken off like a meteor this season and his penchant for impact hasn't slowed down even despite a promotion to High-A. The 19-year-old has made significant strides in allaying concerns about his hit tool and approach, and the rest of his overall game has evaluators buzzing as they envision how his plus power, speed and at least above-average defense at two different positions could come together.

Ryan Borucki has been designated for assignment by the Pirates after experiencing two consecutive rough seasons, marked by a significant decline in performance and ongoing injuries.

The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 12-5, with William Contreras driving in four runs, and Christian Yelich contributing three runs to extend their winning streak to 12 games.

Encarnacion hit his second home run in as many games but left the game with an apparent lower leg injury when trying to beat out an infield single.