PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates have not had a great start to 2025, but general manager Ben Cherington envisions a future where that isn’t the case.
The Pirates suffered a sweep this past weekend to the Cleveland Guardians, but had an incredible turnout for their second game of the series on April 19.
Fans waited hours in line for the Paul Skenes bobblehead that they gave out prior to the game, with lines stretching all across the North Shore and over the Roberto Clemente bridge.
There was originally an allotment of 20,000 bobbleheads, but Pittsburgh owner Bob Nutting decided that he wanted every fan that came through the gates to get one, giving them an electronic voucher to receive one at a future date.
The Pirates had 37,713 fans come watch the game and Skenes pitch, which served as the most fans for a game this season.
Cherington spoke on his show on 93.7 The Fan prior to the game on April 20, that he loved seeing the lines and the fan enthusiasm for Skenes, which he compared to seeing Pedro Martínez pitching for the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
“It was something else, the event was something else,” Cherington said. “Seeing those lines, you can start to think ahead to a playoff game. That’s what you want this environment to be. It’s incredibly motivating because we want to get there. We want to win more games so we can do that. Believe we will…”
Ben Cherington on 93.7 The Fan on crowd yesterday
“Seeing those lines, you can start to think ahead to a playoff game. That’s what you want this environment to be. It’s incredibly motivating because we want to get there. (1/2)
— Danny Demilio (@Demilio22) April 20, 2025While Cherington has those dreams of the playoffs, the Pirates haven’t made the postseason in a decade and haven’t come anywhere close under his tenure since the end of 2019.
The Pirates have struggled under Cherington during his tenure, going 294-414 (.415) through his first five seasons, as the team has never finished higher than fourth in the National League Central Division.
Pittsburgh finished with the worst record during the 2020 season, impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, at 19-41 overall. They also finished with back-to-back 100-loss seasons afterwards, 61-101 in 2021 and 62-100 in 2022.
The Pirates had better starts the following two seasons, which gave the fanbase some interest early on.
They started 20-8 overall in 2023, before losing 11 of the next 12 games and eventually falling below .500 for a 76-86 record.
Pittsburgh had a record of 9-2 and 11-5 in April 2024, before falling below .500. They would get themselves back slightly above .500, 55-52 by July 30 and put themselves in contention for a Wild Card spot, but went 8-19 in August, with a 10-game losing streak, ending those chances.
The Pirates struggled again with their hitting in 2024, with .234 batting average as a team, tied for the seventh worst team batting average in the MLB, which saw them fire hitting coach Andy Haines.
They set a franchise record with 1,506 strikeouts, the fourth most in the MLB. They tied for the fourth worst on-base percentage at .301, the fourth worst slugging percentage at .371, leading to the fourth worst OPS (on-base plus slugging) at .672.
The Pirates also ranked in the bottom third of the MLB with 643 RBIs, No. 21, 1,283 hits and 17 triples, No. 22, 665 runs, No. 24, 160 home runs and 2,033 total bases, No. 25 and 236 doubles, No. 26.
Walks was the only category that Pittsburgh didn’t feature in the lower end of the MLB, tied with the Atlanta Braves at No. 17 with 485 walks.
Only two starters who played more than 100 games had a batting average of .250 of more, in Oneil Cruz at .259 and All-Star outfielder Bryan Reynolds at .275.
The Pirates are currently 8-15 overall, bottom of their division, and the second worst hitting team in the MLB at .206.
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