Perrotto: Can Pirates’ Historically Futile Offense Be Fixed?

The Pittsburgh Pirates are on the brink of history. That is not a good thing, though.

The Pirates can take their place in ignominy tonight when they face the Milwaukee Brewers to open a four-game series at PNC Park. All it will take is another futile effort from the offense.

Even after beating the Cincinnati Reds in back-to-back games on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Pirates have a streak of 26 straight games scoring four runs or less, which ties the MLB record. The 1906 Boston Nationals set the mark that was also matched by the 1918 Boston Braves, 1931 Boston Braves, and 1969 California Angels.

The Pirates won’t commemorate the record if it is broken. Not even a franchise with 28 losing seasons in the last 32 years wants that kind of history.

Manager Don Kelly admits the streak is weighing on the Pirates’ hitters.

“I think it’s something that the guys feel,” Kelly said. “Not getting caught up in the stat per se, but how do we continue to strive for better at-bats in those situations when you get guys in scoring position? Continuing to strive for a quality at-bat in that situation instead of trying to go up there and hit a home run.

“Everybody wants to hit the home run. I had a hitting coach once tell me that it’s easier to hit a home run trying to hit a single than it is to hit a single trying to hit a home run. So how do we slow that down in that way to try to square the ball up and allow the power to come? “

Kelly cited rookie outfielder Alexander Canario as an example of a player taking that approach at the plate.

It was a nice compliment to Canario. However, it speaks to the Pirates’ offensive futility and lack of overall hitting talent that a player with 124 career MLB at-bats stands out.

The most difficult part for the Pirates is that they have no quick fixes.

Teams rarely make significant trades in May, so the Pirates’ best hope of scoring runs is through internal improvement. The highest-rated hitting prospect at Triple-A Indianapolis, Nick Yorke, is hitting a lackluster .254/.314/.357 through 33 games.

General manager Ben Cherington apparently thought improving the Pirates’ offense in 2025 was switching hitting coaches rather than acquiring better players.

Cherington’s offseason moves to bolster the hitting were re-signing Andrew McCutchen, trading for Toronto Blue Jays backup first baseman Spencer Horwitz, and signing end-of-line free agents Tommy Pham and Adam Frazier. Those weren’t transactions that made fans want to buy season tickets.

Andy Haines was fired as hitting coach, and Matt Hague was hired. The results have been worse.

The Pirates averaged 4.10 runs a game last season, 24^th among the 30 MLB teams. This season, the Pirates rank last in the majors at 2.92 runs a game.

So, what can the Pirates do to score more runs?

“The challenge that Matt and the hitting coaches are giving the guys is more targeted work of what they’re going to see that night and the different things that they individually need to do better,” Kelly said. “It’s not just going in the cage and hitting off the tee or doing flips and going through the motions. There’s targeted work with each individual guy and what they need to work on in order to get better.”

There is a lot of room for improvement.