Four New Building Blocks the Pirates Will Take into 2025

Despite flirting with postseason contention at times during the 2024 season, the Pittsburgh Pirates find themselves in a very familiar situation: the bottom of the NL Central.

While they have not made the postseason since 2015, Pittsburgh’s losing has given them a plethora of young pieces to build around.

While he isn’t part of the Pirates young crop, outfielder Bryan Reynolds has established himself as one of the better offensive outfielders in the National League. Reynolds — a two-time All-Star — is enjoying another strong season with the bat, hitting .277 with 22 home runs.

Since his first All-Star campaign in 2021, Reynolds has been the one clear building block for the Pirates, and was signed to an eight-year extension last season. He is under contract through the 2030 season, with a club option for 2031.

Being that he is already 29 years old, the Buccos’ window to compete will hopefully come soon while he still has his best years left in him. To do that, the Pirates need other core pieces. And luckily, Pittsburgh is starting to see those pieces rise to the surface with a youth movement this season.

Let’s look at the new franchise building blocks who have shown themselves this season.

Oneil Cruz

The most senior of the bunch, Cruz displays one of the more electric tool-sets in Major League Baseball. A former top prospect and shortstop for the first three and a half seasons of his career, Cruz recently was moved to center field to put his incredible speed and arm strength on full display.

Flat out, Cruz is a physical specimen, standing 6’7 and weighing in a 215 pounds.

Despite the size, he still ranks in the 88th percentile in sprint speed, being clocked at 28.8 feet per second. Additionally, he has an absolute rocket for an arm.

Averaging 95.8 mph on his throws (max of 103.3 mph), Cruz sits in the 99th percentile in arm strength. Errors were always an issue for him in the infield as he made 24 errors this season at shortstop, as well as 17 in 2022, his last full season. So far, Cruz has logged 10 games in center field.

With the bat, the lefty slugger possesses a lot of power but has struggled to find consistency. He averages 216 strikeouts per a 162-game season which would be among the highest in the league. Cruz also has a 34.3% whiff rate which is the 4th percentile in the league.

Now for the positives. The 25-year old has the fastest bat speed in MLB at 78.4 mph, which helps him create an average exit velocity of 95.5 mph which is in the 99th percentile. 2024 has seen his highest batting average, as Cruz is hitting .269 to go along with a career high 18 home runs and 17 stolen bases.

If Cruz can stick in the outfield and cut the strikeouts, he can easily become the Pirates best player. It is not hard to see 30-30 potential with Cruz based on his athleticism, there is just a lot he still needs to put together.

Endy Rodriguez

Named as the 2022 Just Baseball Media Minor League Hitter of the Year, Endy Rodriguez provides the Pirates with tremendous upside. Despite missing all off 2024 after undergoing Tommy John Surgery, Rodriguez is still seen as Pittsburgh’s catcher of the future, sitting atop the 2023 Pirates prospect rankings.

He struggled in brief MLB experience in 2023, hitting just .220 with three home runs but showed his offensive promise in the minor leagues.

Across three levels in 2022, the switch hitter hit .323 with a .996 OPS. This included 25 home runs, 39 doubles and 95 RBI while also logging time at four defensive positions. In his big league time, Rodriguez showed good bat-to-ball skills as he posted a 21.4% whiff percentage and displayed maturity at the plate with a 26.4% chase percentage.

Speaking of defense, Rodriguez displayed his athleticism and abilities behind the dish on full display. His 1.90 second pop time puts him in the 86th percentile while his caught stealing above average is 79th. He is a plus runner as far as catchers go with a sprint speed of 27.8 feet per second, good for 61st percentile.

If all goes well for the Pirates, the defense is simply an added bonus to what profiles to be an offensive threat behind the plate.

A big disappointment of this season is not getting a chance to see Rodriguez play. In his absence, Joey Bart has filled in quite nicely for Pittsburgh. Next year, a tandem of Rodriguez and Bart could be one of the better catching duos in baseball,

Jared Jones

After entering the season as the Pirates’ No. 3 Prospect, Jones quickly established himself in the team’s rotation. The flame-throwing right hander struck out 10 Marlins in his big league debut, catapulting him to an April where he posted a 3.18 ERA.

Since then, Jones has dealt with injuries, but still owns a solid 3.91 ERA while striking out 106 batters across 101.1 innings.

One of the bigger concerns entering the season was the lack of a solid third pitch after a deadly fastball-slider combo. This issue still persists as his off-speed run value sits in the 24th percentile. Nonetheless, the stuff is still there.

When Jones gets hit, he gets hit hard. His 44.3% hard hit percentage is in the bottom 10% of the league. The development of a quality third pitch would likely help this problem as opposing bats are hitting .385 and .306 on his curveball and changeup, respectively.

Jones’ 97.2 mph average fastball velocity is in the 93rd percentile while his extension is in the 84th, making the heater look even quicker. He has garnered a ton of swing and misses, creating a 31.2% whiff percentage and 30.7% chase rate.

Jones has the makings of an ace, but with the cast of arms on the depth chart, he may not need to become one.

Paul Skenes

The elephant in the room. Skenes, the first overall pick in the 2023 flew through the minor league system, making his debut on May 11th, 2024.

Since then, he has put himself right in the middle of the National League Rookie of the Year race, posting a 2.10 ERA and striking out 151 batters in 120 innings.

Skenes’ callup did more than just give Pittsburgh a bona fide ace, it restored relevance in the Steel City. He became the first rookie starting pitcher to start the All-Star game since Hideo Nomo in 1995.

He notched a scoreless inning to open the midsummer classic, mowing through some of the best hitters in the American League.

You’d be hard-pressed to find something that Skenes struggles with. He is near the top of every statistical category and would likely find himself near the top of the Cy Young race if he had the innings to qualify (he still might make a run even without qualification).

Looking at his Baseball Savant page will tell you all there is to know.

There isn’t much more to say about Skenes other than that he will be the best pitcher in the National League for years to come and that he will command a hefty paycheck once he hits free agency.

Until then, the Pirates have a 1-2 punch at the front of their rotation that can go toe-to-toe with anyone in the game. Even better, the Pirates have Mitch Keller pitching very well in the first year of a five-year, $77 million contract he signed this season.

Keller has pitched to a 3.85 ERA across 28 starts and 163 2/3 innings pitched. The 28-year-old is about to complete his fourth tour as a member of the Pirates rotation, making him the perfect No. 3 to complement the flamethrowing duo of Skenes and Jones.

Very similar to Reynolds in the Pirates lineup, Keller is a foundational piece that has been here for some time, that will now look to do some more winning with the young core that has joined them.

The fate of the rotation lies in the hands of Skenes and Jones, while the lineup falls in the hands of Cruz and Rodriguez reaching their full potential. The Pirates clearly need to add more talent around these players if they truly wish to contend while Skenes is in his prime.

This will be a pivotal offseason for the Pirates, as they look to revamp a roster that has the pitching to make a deep run if they can get their aces into the dance in 2025 and beyond.