2 lineup changes Pirates must make to turn 2025 season around

Offensive woes continue to hurt the Pirates deep into games. More often than not, Pittsburgh simply is not scoring enough runs for the pitchers to work with. Given the injuries the Pirates are dealing with, they need to be more strategic with the way they handle their lineup.

The Pirates need to send out their best guys. Nightly. Running out players with OPS marks of .550 just cannot happen everyday, especially when there are alternate options that could do better. Here are two lineup changes that Pittsburgh could make to help navigate towards a .500 win percentage.

These two lineup changes would positively help the Pirates get back on track.

First of all, Tommy Pham just cannot be in the lineup everyday anymore. He is producing a wRC+ of just 38, which is far below the league average of 100. Additionally, his OPS has fallen all the way to .491 and his strikeout rate is up to 26.7%. These numbers are nearly unserviceable, but luckily there appears to be a new guy on the roster that could make more of a positive impact.

Matt Gorski just made his MLB debut against the Angels and delivered an absolute bomb in his first at bat. It left the bat at 115.2 mph and traveled 434 feet. He finished 1-for-4 with just the bomb, but he was also doing very well in Triple-A prior to the promotion.

There is nothing really left for him to prove in the minor leagues, so let him play out in the big leagues to see what he has. It can't be worse than what Pham has proven so far.

The other main spot in the lineup that needs reworked is at second base. Adam Frazier has been handling the starting role during the absense of Nick Gonzales, but his offense is below average. It actually has been improving lately, with a recent nine-game hitting streak, but his wRC+ of 71 and .233 batting average are not very strong.

Enmanuel Valdez, on the other hand, has been a hot hitter. He has been placed in at a first base, but that is not a smart move. He has accounted for a one OAA and DRS there, but his 5'7" size there gives infielders a small target to hit. Valdez currently has put together an OPS of .728 with 9 RBI and a 103 wRC+. That bat needs in the lineup ... just away from first base.

An easy way to utilize these two is by starting Valdez at second base andusing Frazier as a late-game defensive replacement. They have been doing this with Triolo at first base in place of Valdez ever since Triolo came off the Injured List, so they could easily do this at second to be productive with these two players' skill sets.

The Pirates do not want to fall into a hole they cannot get out of, especially with all the players they will get back off of the injured list soon. Postseason baseball is possible, but to reach that plateau, they need a consistent offense that scores runs. These two changes, for the time being, could definitely up their production over what they have been running out nightly.