5 Storylines to Follow at Pirates Spring Training
The frigid temperatures that have overtaken the Pittsburgh area this winter are starting to break, which can only mean one thing. Spring is right around the corner.
For the Pirates, spring officially started on Wednesday with the report date to Bradenton for pitchers and catchers.
The first official workout will be underway on Wednesday morning and the dawn of a new season is upon us. The expectations have been raised for the 2026 Pirates as opposed to last year’s group, or the year before that, or the year before that, or… you get the picture.
The Pirates have been aggressive this offseason to try and return to the playoffs for the first time in over a decade.
But before the Pirates can think about the postseason, there are plenty of storylines to follow at spring training. Here are the top five.
1. Can Konnor Griffin Make Opening Day Roster?
Not many players will have more eyes on them than Griffin, who has emerged as the game’s consensus top prospect a year and a half after the Pirates took him ninth overall in the 2024 draft.
Griffin rapidly rose through the system in his first professional season in 2025. The 19-year-old began the year with the Low-A Bradenton Marauders and ended with the Double-A Altoona Curve. Combined between three levels, Griffin finished with a .333/.415/.527 batting line with 23 doubles, four triples, 21 home runs, 94 RBI and 65 stolen bases.
Despite not playing a game in Triple-A, there’s a chance he could make the Pirates Opening Day roster once camp breaks and the team heads to New York to begin the year against the Mets.
If Griffin bypasses Triple-A and heads straight to the big leagues for the start of the season, he would become the first teenager to suit up for the Pirates since Aramis Ramirez in 1998.
“I want Konnor to be himself and continue to work the way he does because he’s a special kid and he’s a special player,” said manager Don Kelly.
New-Look Lineup
The Pirates’ offense last season was abysmal. There’s no other way to put it. They finished last in runs and OPS and totaled 117 home runs, 31 fewer than the next-closest team (St. Louis Cardinals, 148).
But the lineup will look a lot different come Opening Day this year with a handful of offseason additions joining the fold.
Brandon Lowe, who was an All-Star last season, was acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays in a deal that also netted the Pirates outfielder Jake Mangum. Lowe hit 31 home runs and drove in 83 runs last season to go along with a .785 OPS. Mangum, in his rookie year, hit .296 with 27 steals.
Fellow 2025 All-Star Ryan O’Hearn signed a two-year, $29 million deal, becoming the first position player to sign a multi-year free agent deal with the Pirates since Russell Martin 13 years ago. O’Hearn split the season between the Baltimore Orioles and San Diego Padres and slashed .276/.350/.387 with 21 doubles, one triple, 17 home runs and 63 RBI.
The Pirates added further thump to the middle of the lineup in Marcell Ozuna, who has agreed to a one-year deal with a mutual option for 2027. Ozuna, who was an All-Star and finished fourth in the NL MVP race in 2024, slashed .232/.355/.400 with 19 doubles, 21 home runs and 68 RBI with the Atlanta Braves last season.
Pittsburgh also acquired outfielder Jhostynxon García, who made his MLB debut with the Boston Red Sox last season.
“Being able to add the guys that we were able to add this offseason, we added some power,” said Kelly. “We added O’Hearn. When you talk about contact, the ability that he’s got and the approach that he’s already shared with our hitting guys and with some of the players, excited to bring him into camp. And Ozuna as well. Ozuna is a professional hitter. Brandon Lowe bringing the power.
“It’s something that I think all hitters are always working on, is finding that ability to to blend the hitting ability with the power and finding ways to do that. We’ve had some guys that have had success doing that.”
3. Can Paul Skenes Repeat as Cy Young?
Paul Skenes reports to Bradenton as the National League favorite to win a second straight Cy Young award after becoming the third pitcher from the Pirates to ever win the award.
After winning NL Rookie of the Year in 2024, Skenes was the unanimous winner of last year’s Cy Young after going 10-10 with a 1.97 ERA and 216 strikeouts in 187.2 innings across 32 starts.
Through his first two seasons in the big leagues, the 23-year-old is 21-13 with a 1.96 ERA and 386 strikeouts in 320.2 innings across 55 starts. Opponents have hit just .198 against him with a .555 OPS.
The first act was brilliant. The encore was just as good. What will Skenes have to round out the trilogy? If he stays healthy all year, it’s hard to envision anyone dethroning him.
“I think continuing to see him do the same thing that he’s done. He’s set the bar pretty high when you talk about the first two years and what he’s been able to accomplish,” said Kelly. “Really want Paul to just focus on being consistent. There’s nobody that drives Paul more than Paul and he is looking to be great.”
4. Don Kelly Runs the Show
Don Kelly took over as manager after Derek Shelton was fired in early May. Under Kelly’s leadership, the Pirates went 59-65 and showed marked improvement.
Kelly was rewarded with a contract extension to keep him in the role as the team’s manager and will run the show in spring training before embarking on his first full season.
Players raved about Kelly’s leadership last season. The 45-year-old did a good job handling a tough situation on the fly after taking the reigns. But this year, the Pirates will be counting on Kelly to help them push for the postseason.
“The excitement is real. It’s high,” Kelly explained. “I think that there’s always excitement going into spring. Looking at this one with the moves that we’ve been able to make in the offseason to pair with the guys coming back, it’s real. You can feel it around camp. You can feel it in the clubhouse and out on the field. Guys are excited to go. For me personally, it’s the same. That excitement is real.”
5. Period. Full Stop.
When meeting with the media at the end of the season, team president Travis Williams said the offseason would be designed around the goal for the Pirates to make the playoffs. Period. Full stop.
To the surprise of many, the Pirates were unusually active this winter and exceeded the $100 million payroll threshold for the first time in franchise history.
It’s a start, for sure, and a step in the right direction. But the Pirates also missed out on several free agents they were heavily involved with including Kyle Schwarber, Kazuma Okamoto and Eugenio Suárez. The moves Pittsburgh did make will help, but will it be enough to improve enough coming off a 71-win season and deliver on the goal laid out by Williams?
The answer to that question will start this spring.
“I think that what it’s going to take for the Pirates is everybody, the cliché, we need to pull the rope in the same direction,” Kelly said when asked how the Pirates get to the postseason. “We need to be a team. We need to go out and play good baseball together and rely on each other to pick each other up through a long season and I think doing that together, we’re gonna win as many games as we can and play meaningful baseball in September, looking to play all the way into October.”
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Just so they dont say they are going to win in the margins.