Pirates Show Patience and Productivity Are Key Ingredients for Postseason Run

With MLB’s second half officially underway, the Pittsburgh Pirates have all the ingredients for the first time since 2015.

The Pittsburgh Pirates celebrate following a 14–5 win over the Milwaukee Brewers at PNC Park in Pittsburgh on July 12, 2026. Justin Berl/Getty Images

Friday evening’s game with the Cleveland Guardians can’t come soon enough for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

When you’re hot, you’re hot. And the Pirates’ bats are scorching.

They are playing with the confidence of the franchise’s 2015 season crew that qualified for the postseason. That was the last time a Pirates team played on in October.

Ending the first half of the 2026 season among the MLB top offenses, Pittsburgh baseball was not predicted to be as potent as it is.

Scoring 516 runs in 97 games before the All-Star Game break, the Pirates are tied with the Washington Nationals in this category.

With 65 games remaining on the regular season schedule, Pirates skipper Don Kelly is seeing his club’s run output on track to easily surpass last season’s 583 total.

Incredible as it may seem, with all the Pirates runs crossing home plate since late March, not a single position Pittsburgh player was dispatched to Philadelphia for the Midsummer Classic earlier this week.

Second baseman Brandon Lowe, who is tied for seventh place in home runs (21) among all National League second basemen, and his .803 OPS is fourth best among second basemen.

His 64 RBIs, tops among all at his position, have Lowe putting in one of the most productive seasons in both the American and National Leagues.

Somehow, the veteran was passed over for a trip to Philadelphia in favor of Atlanta Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies and San Francisco Giants infielder Luis Arraez.

Pitching, too, is clicking on all cylinders for the Pirates.

Jared Jones, Braxton Ashcraft, and Paul Skenes are all scheduled to start for this weekend’s three-game series in Cleveland.

Skenes, 8–8, is coming off back-to-back victories.

With a win over the Atlanta Braves, and Sunday against National League Central rival Milwaukee Brewers, Skenes ended a nine-game winless streak.

In the 20 games that he has started this season for Pittsburgh, Skenes has a 3.57 ERA, well below the overall MLB average of 4.21 ERA.

The Pirates are 7–4 in July.

Because he pitched on Sunday in Pittsburgh, although appearing with Ashcraft representing the Pirates at the All-Star Game, Skenes was unavailable for National League manager Dave Roberts to offer an inning of work.

While at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia earlier this week, Skenes spoke with reporters, and Kelly in Pittsburgh on Sunday offered his assessment on where the club is coming out of the break, and questions of a drop in last season’s National League Cy Young Award winner’s velocity were addressed.

“Happy going into the break. I think when you get the offense rolling like that and have a series like that, you know, you necessarily don’t want to shut it down, and it’s gonna, it will be a good break and you know, ready to come out on the other side,” said Pittsburgh’s Don Kelly.

Skenes, the Pirates’ pitching ace, shows no concern about the slight dip in his fastball this season.

As a rookie in 2024, his velocity averaged 98.8. This season, although still at an elite level, Skenes’ speed is hovering at 96.6.

“I don’t think velocity is something I need to pitch well,” Skenes said.

“I think it’s probably the first time in my career the velo has kinda dipped. It’s not something that I’m stressed over at all. I’m feeling good and still pitching at a high level.”

Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates attends the 2026 MLB All-Star Red Carpet Show at Independence Mall in Philadelphia on July 14, 2026. Lisa Lake/Getty Images

The sprint to the finish line of this season on Sept. 27 has the Pirates in a good position where they could make up ground in the National League Central.

Going into Cleveland on Friday, Pittsburgh is 50–47.

The Pirates are currently in fourth place in the Central, trailing division leader Milwaukee by 9.5 games.

More importantly, Pittsburgh is only two games out of a wild card berth.

After the three games with the Guardians, the Pirates will continue their road trip to the Bronx for three games with the New York Yankees.

Next, they will place at home three games with the Chicago Cubs, who are in second place and trail the Central-leading Brewers by five games.

Kelly’s club finishes off July with three more games against Central rivals in Cincinnati with the Reds.

By Aug. 3, at 6 p.m. EDT, MLB’s trade deadline, the Pirates could very well be knocking on the door of first place in their division.

All indications are that Pittsburgh’s general manager Ben Cherington will be a buyer by or on the deadline, in the hunt for a front-line closer.

If the Pirates have a weakness this season, the bullpen has been disappointing more times than not.

Pittsburgh’s relievers rank 26th of 30 MLB clubs in saves with an anemic total of 19.

San Diego Padres (and Pittsburgh native) star reliever Mason Miller, already having racked up 25 saves in 2026, appears to be targeted by the Pirates.

With a batting order that includes Ryan O’Hearn (63 RBIs), Bryan Reynolds (877 OPS and 62 walks), plus rookie phenom Esmerly Valdez slugging 10 home runs and 27 RBIs in 28 games, added to the strong starting pitching staff, the Pirates are no longer the doormats of the National League.

Cherington waited to mold Pittsburgh’s 26-man roster into the contenders Pirates fans have been starving for many seasons.

Now, the fun picks up where it left off after last Sunday’s 14–5 win over Milwaukee, on Friday, on the banks of Ohio’s Lake Erie.