2 Pirates offseason decisions that already look genius, 1 that looks awful

Heading into the season, fans were very angry with how the Pirates managed their offseason. Not spending on the big-named players the city clamored for definitely has hurt Pittsburgh historically, but they still seem to find sneaky productive pickups, even with the lack of money.

It seems as the Pirates have done so again, landing two guys that appear to be genius additions in the early going. Unfortunately, though, there is another addition that does not look very good at this point. It is still early, but let's take a look at these three new guys and compare their early data.

These two Pirates additions from this offseason look like genius pickups at this point.

Andrew Heaney

Andrew Heaney has been a pleasant add to the starting rotation, already with two solid starts under his belt, including some appropriate mastery of the Yankees. The process of landing him was quite interesting, as Jose Quintana was actually who the Pirates pursued first before he chose to go in another direction.

Through two starts, Heaney has tossed 12 innings, allowing two earned runs, nine hits, and two walks. He has also struck out 12 batters, and is generating a strong chase rate of 34.9%. Heaney is impressing everyone so far, and may be just another soft tossing southpaw that Oscar Marin utilizes better than his previous pitching coaches have.

Ryan Borucki

The Pirates once again have a problem in the bullpen with high-leverage relievers. David Bednar and Colin Holderman have posted the most glaring struggles so far, resulting in Bednar getting optioned to Triple-A and Holderman hitting the injured list. Ryan Borucki has been an exception in high-leverage duty, looking very strong, despite one rough outing. He blew the save in Game 3 against the Yankees, which shot his ERA up to 7.20 on the season, but fans should not be alarmed, as he has been lights out in every other outing.

The big thing about Borucki that appears to be something that could stick all season is his whiff rate of 36.1%. It's fair to expect his groundball clip of 92.3% to drop, but historically he's been very much above average. Notably, he has not given up a barrel yet. Bringing him back after his injury-plagued 2024 season is looking like a steal.

This Pirates' signing looks awful initially, but we still have hope for him.

Tommy Pham

Outfield was the position every fan knew the Pirates had to upgrade this offseason after Michael A. Taylor and Jack Suwinski fell apart. Tommy Pham was the addition to try to avenge that failure and send a strong outfield out there, but so far, the Pirates have received the opposite.

Pham started a brutal 4-for-33 (.121) at the plate with two RBI and three stolen bases. Through the weekend, his OPS sat at .383 and his strikeout rate was above 30%. Of course there is still lots of time for him to turn it around, but it is definitely concerning this early to see a player with moderately high expectations fall flat.