‘Balance is the Right Word,’ Pirates Weighing Roster Adjustments Heading Into September
PITTSBURGH – As the 2025 season closes in on its final month, the Pittsburgh Pirates are already focused on next year.
The Pirates entered Sunday’s afternoon’s game against the Colorado Rockies at 56-74 and 25 games behind the first-place Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central.
Pittsburgh traded several players from its big-league roster at the trade deadline and has been giving more opportunities to a handful of younger players who have a chance to factor into the team’s plans in 2026.
Among such players is Jared Triolo, who entered Sunday with a healthy .303/.395/.439 batting line since he was recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis at the beginning of the month. In addition to a desire to see him at the plate, the Pirates want to evaluate him at a premier position.
“We know [Triolo] can play at third. We believe [Triolo] can play short. It’s just giving him consistent runway there to really answer that question is what we wanted to do. Feel like he’s answering that question. We think he can,” said Pirates GM Cherington. “It doesn’t mean necessarily that he’s the shortstop in 2026. It just means that we now know more about that and it just gives us some more options in the offseason as we look to add to the infield. I think we’ll need to add to the infield.”
Triolo could serve as a placeholder at shortstop until top prospect Konnor Griffin, who was promoted to Double-A Altoona, is deemed ready.
Griffin has soared through the minor leagues to beginning his year, jumping from Low-A Bradenton to Altoona 101 games into his professional career.
“I wouldn’t have guessed it. I wouldn’t have put my money on it, but he’s earned it,” Cherington said on Griffin’s rapid ascension. “We decided that whatever happened in Double-A the rest of the way would be better than finishing out the year in High-A”
While Griffin won’t be one of the players under consideration for a chance in the big leagues during the final few months of the season, there are some players currently with Indianapolis who will be.
At the same time, the Pirates will want to continue to give more chances to Triolo, Jack Suwinski, Liover Peguero and others to get a better understanding of what they could provide heading into next season.
“Balance is the right word,” Cherington explained. “We’ve got two rosters playing, Major League and Triple-A, so it’s not so much we don’t have enough playing time. Between those two spots, we can create the playing time. Obviously playing time in the Major Leagues is different than Triple-A. We try to balance that the best we can. We still feel it’s important that we’re putting the best team on the field every day that we can in Pittsburgh.”
Some of the players who are pushing for a chance with the Pirates include top 30 prospects Nick Yorke and Billy Cook as well infielder Cam Devanney, who was acquired from the Kansas City Royals in the July trade that sent Adam Frazier the other way.
The Pirates will be adding at least two additional players when rosters expand from 26 to 28 players next Monday. There more or less have already been deliberations about which two players will get called up because of ongoing discussions.
“It’s really a daily conversation of, ok, is this still best for the Pirates, short and long-term for this player to get this opportunity, or is it better for the Pirates for someone else to get that opportunity? We talk about it everyday.”
While September guarantees at least two new faces in the Pirates’ clubhouse, it’s possible that there could be moves in the week leading up to roster expansion.
The Pirates would be wise to do due diligence on as many players as possible heading into a crucial offseason, and they’re running out of days on the calendar to do so.
“I’d be surprised if there weren’t some continued adjustments as we get into September,” Cherington explained. “I think there very well could be. I can’t tell you what they’re going to be. It’s just a daily conversation.”
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