It’s Opening Day and hope springs eternal for the Pittsburgh Pirates and every other MLB team.
But how will the Bucs do this season?
Starting pitcher, phenom Paul Skenes is, by far, the most exciting aspect of the 2025 season.
But, how will the rest of the team fair? Will they be in a playoff race come September?
Here is what our Fan hosts, producers and more think:
Adam Crowley
76-86. AGAIN. Prior to the Spencer Horowitz and Jared Jones injuries, I could squint and see the Pirates finishing with more wins than losses for the first time in a good long while. I have a much harder time seeing that now. There will be high points! Every time Skenes takes the rubber, he's must watch. I'm looking forward to seeing Oneil Cruz in center field. Bubba Chandler could be a star. But the lineup leaves, uh, a lot to be desired.
Andrew Fillipponi
71-91. Thank God for Paul Skenes or this team would lose 100 games. Derek Shelton will be fired before the season is over. Ben Cherington will be blown out at the end of the year. This will be a season of reckoning. The regime is a failure. The season will be an utter disaster.
Chris Mueller
74-88. The Pirates have the best pitcher in baseball on an extraordinarily team-friendly contract.
They did not do enough to build a quality team around him this offseason. A disproportionate amount of their hopes for 2025 rest with whether or not players already on the roster improve from last season. Given the franchise's recent track record with player development, that's not a bridge I can cross.
I'd like to believe that Paul Skenes and some other young pitchers will carry a moribund offense to contention, but on paper, this team looks like it would need historically great starting pitching to flirt with a high-80s win total. I do not believe they will get that.
Donny Chedrick
78-84. Paul Skenes will win the NL Cy Young award in 2025, but it will be reminiscent of Felix Hernandez in 2010 (13-12, 2.27 ERA). The team won't back him up enough to reach the playoffs or even hit the .500 mark, I fear.
Bryan Reynolds will be his usual 'Steady Eddy' self at the plate and I think Oneil Cruz can eclipse 25 homers, but otherwise the offense will be hard to come by.
Jeff Hathhorn
76-86. There are potential comeback players and a new hitting coach. There is the leadership from Andrew McCutchen and Paul Skenes, who will win the NL Cy Young, but they didn't find an impact bat and have questions in the lineup and bullpen.
Josh Rowntree
Against my better judgement, I’ll say 83 wins. A winning season. And it’s all because of Paul Skenes. The lineup is flawed, the bullpen needs help, but Skenes feels like the kind of guy to help break them out of the elongated ruts that have plagued them over the last couple of seasons.
Dan Zangrilli
84-78. Last year, the Pirates were buyers at the deadline. That was encouraging progress. However, a 10-game losing streak shortly thereafter sunk their playoff aspirations. This year, I believe they have far more pitching depth to make it down the home stretch. While they certainly can use more offensive reinforcements, they don't need to be a juggernaut to support the pitching staff, they merely need to be competent, which in 2024 they were not. I believe they will be productive enough based on a new hitting coach overseeing the offense coupled with internal improvement from a number of individuals.
Andrew Limberg
81-81. The Pirates blew so many games late last year that they have to be at least a little better in that department. I’ve given them five more wins compared to last year. I hope that’s the low end of what they’ll do, but the offense has been so lackluster and no big additions to the lineup were made so, it’s hard to get excited about an increase in production. Ke’Bryan Hayes is healthier and if Oneil Cruz and Jack Suwinski can hit anywhere close to their potential this could be a dangerous team. But, it all needs to go right for the Bucs. One big injury and this season is derailed.