2025 Pittsburgh Pirates First Half Recap

S.Samek

The first half of the MLB season is over. If you’re a Pittsburgh Pirates fan you’re probably thankful that it’s half over in what looks to be another wasted year of no playoffs. Let’s dive into to see what transpired during the first half of the 2025 season.

Let’s start with the record. 39-58 and in last place in the National League Central Division is bad. They are 18.5 games back of the division leading Chicago Cubs already. It’s not looking good. Though the Chicago White Sox, Colorado Rockies and Washington Nationals do have worse records so it’s not like were at the complete bottom of the standings yet.

Hitting

Yep, the hitting has been a major problem with this team during the first half. Isiah Kiner-Falefa leads the team in average with a .274. Oneil Cruz is leading the team in home runs with 16 and OPS with .733. Bryan Reynolds is leading the team in hits with 80 and RBIS with 46.

Yet we get a series where they don’t score a single run, after a series where they didn’t allow a single run to score on them. They average 3.36 runs per game and rank 30th in the league in runs scored and home runs. They had a streak of 26 games where they didn’t score four or more runs. They have lost 17 one run games this year.

Pitching

Pitching seems to be a point of strength for the Pirates. Paul Skenes is still a stud and an All-Star Starter for the second year in a row. Despite his 4-8 record he has a 2.01 ERA in 121 innings pitched, with 131 strikeouts. His ERA is the lowest in the National League and his innings pitched, strikeout, quality start and games started numbers are all top six in the National League.

Mitch Keller has had a solid first half with a 3.48 ERA in 20 starts and 119 innings pitched. Sadly, he is 3-10 because of lack of run support like Skenes. Though he is gaining interested should the Pirates decide to trade him.

Andrew Heany has a 4-8 record with a 4.59 ERA. Not great, but not awful and has looked good at some points this season.

Bailey Falter has a 6-4 record and 3.79 ERA across 19 starts this season. He is a solid contributor and having a good first half.

While it does stink to not have Jared Jones, the rotation seems to still be solid.

The relief pitching seems to be a mixed bag and revolving door with players going up and down to the majors and minor leagues. David Bednar started the season struggling and was demoted to Triple-A. He was recalled shortly after though and is doing pretty well. He is 2-5 with a 2.53 ERA and is 13/13 in save situations.

David Santana is having an impressive year. He is 3-2 with a 1.56 ERA and five saves in six chances. Both him and Bednar are drawing trade interest with teams in need of relief pitching help.

Colin Holderman is struggling through and was sent to the minor leagues. Tim Mayza is injured. Justin Lawrence started the season pitching well before he got hurt. Injuries and ineffectiveness are definitely something this team has delt with during the first half. Hopefully during the second half of the season they become more stable, or even good and continue to keep the team in games.

Manager

The Derek Shelton era is finally over. He was fired after starting the season at 12-26. Don Kelly replaced him and is 27-32 currently. So, a little bit of improvement is made by switching managers, but it’s also still an under .500 record for Kelly. He is pretty much auditioning for next year as I can see with a bit more success, say like a .500 or better second half record possibly being enough to get Kelly the manager job full time.

I think if I have to give this team a first half grade, I will say D plus or C minus range. The pitching is keeping them in games; it’s just the offense is so bad they really drag the team down. If the pitching collapses, they really are in trouble. Yet if the bats start to come around a bit more and the pitching stays where it’s at they would be a lot more competitive. I think a .500 record in the second half is realistic if that happens.