PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Before signing with the Pirates, Ryan O’Hearn played in the playoffs each of the last three seasons. He said it’s the first time in his career he’s fired up for the second half of the season as the Pirates resume in Cleveland Friday night.
“We are in a good spot,” O’Hearn said. “I like where our team is at. Obviously in the first half there are things we can clean up, but you can say that about any team. It’s going to be a fun second half to be a Pittsburgh Pirate.”
Bucs enter the second half two games out of the playoffs and three games over .500.
“We are in a good spot,” said Pirates starter Paul Skenes, adding they are just trying to grow the gap between wins and losses. ”We are playing good baseball. I’m super-confident in our ability to show up after the break. It’s been fun to be a part of. We’ll keep it rolling. A lot of baseball left to play. It’s going to be a fun year.”
Both will be a huge part of the second half of the year, O’Hearn is second on the team with 63 RBIs and Skenes, even with the higher numbers, is still the team ace and has pitched better in the last couple of games.
“Our goal is to show up every day and get better and to go out and compete and win a baseball game,” said Pirates manager Don Kelly. “I think we are doing that. We’ve done a good job of that. Is there a little more consistency? I think that there is.”
“When you are going through 162, that’s a long way. I think we’ve done a good job of being resilient, continuing to persevere through some ups and downs and that’s what it’s going to take as we go through the rest of the season too.”
There have been ups and downs—the ups of the top scoring offense in the first half months after being the worst offense in baseball in 2025. Braxton Ashcraft is an All-Star and Esmerlyn Valdez stunning baseball with 10 home runs in 27 games including a huge grand slam in a comeback win against the Brewers.
The downs being the 17 blown saves, second in the National League. The numerous times they should have closed out a win. Starting pitching, as a whole, hasn’t been as good as expected. Then the injuries-O’Hearn out early, Konnor Griffin out until September, Oneil Cruz and Spencer Horwitz, Endy Rodriguez and even Wilbur Dotel, who impressed out of the bullpen.
“We know that we’re not at full strength and we’re probably one of the best offenses in baseball if not the best offense in baseball right now,” said Pirates home run and RBIs leader Brandon Lowe. “To say that and we’re not at full strength, is a pretty impressive thing to see.”
“There’s always the ups-and-downs of the first half of the season, injuries being one of those for us,” said infielder Jared Triolo. “We feel like we are in a good spot and ready to go.”
“We don’t know who it’s going to be but someone is going to step up,” Skenes said. “It’s just the team that we have. It’s the character that we have here and in AAA. I don’t think anyone had Esmerlyn Valdez coming up and doing what he’s done to this point in the season. It’s been special to watch, special to be a part of. It’s going to be a fun second half.”
Lowe, who has only been with the team since December, said it’s more, it’s something he noticed pretty quickly.
“There’s multiple guys that came in and there are multiple guys that understood that they needed to put some work in this offseason,” Lowe said. “Every single guy did exactly what they needed to do. You say that because it’s not one person that is carrying this offense, it’s up-and-down the lineup. Every single guy is taking great at bats, putting the bat on the ball and getting the job done.”
“Just proud of the way guys have competed through it,” Kelly said. “Blocking out the outside noise and just showing up every day regardless of the day before. I like the way we are competing.”
“I’ve been telling a lot of guys in this clubhouse, if you are in it at the end, there is nothing like it,” O’Hearn said. “We have some playoff experience in here, it’s going to be cool. Really cool.”
“Just got to keep going,” Skenes said. “It’s special, can’t wait to see what happens in the second half.”
What the Pirates players are saying about the season
What the Pirates players are saying about the season
