ESPN’s Pirates hype train may have gone a stop too far

Here we go again, Pirates fans. National media has discovered Pittsburgh — and this time, ESPN didn’t just climb aboard the hype train. They punched a first-class ticket, stuck their heads out the window, and declared the Buccos not only playoff-bound…but National League Central champs in 2026.

Look — it's great that the Pirates' front office finally realized you need more than vibes and pitching prospects to score runs. And yes — they should absolutely be in the playoff conversation in 2026. That part of ESPN’s prediction? Totally fair.

But winning the division? Let’s maybe pump the brakes before we start hanging any banners in PNC Park.

Giving credit where it’s due, the Pirates' offense really has improved. Ryan O’Hearn brings professional at-bats and lefty pop. Brandon Lowe brings legit power. Jake Mangum brings speed and baseline competence. Jhostynxon Garcia brings upside.

Meanwhile, last year’s Pirates lineup finished dead last in runs scored and had two hitters above league average by wRC+. Two! And one of them was Spencer Horwitz. So yeah — adding Lowe’s 114 wRC+ and O’Hearn’s 127 wRC+ actually matters. A lot.

And that doesn’t even touch Konnor Griffin — baseball’s No. 1 prospect — who might do his best Paul Skenes impression and simply show up sometime in May and refuse to leave. Add all of this to a pitching staff that already finished seventh in MLB ERA with the reigning Cy Young winner, and yes — the Pirates finally look like a team built to compete.

The Wild Card bar keeps rising. ESPN is right — 83 wins probably won’t cut it. But the Pirates don’t need to leap from irrelevant to dominant overnight. They just need to become consistently good. And unlike past “this is our year” moments, this actually feels sustainable.

Pirates could be realistic playoff contenders in 2026, but not as NL Central champs

The leap from the bottom of the division to Wild Card contenders — while big — is at least logical. But division champs? Let's be real.

The NL Central might not be loaded — but it isn’t some neighborhood Wiffle ball division either. The Cincinnati Reds made the playoffs last year after winning 83 games. The Chicago Cubs still exist, and they still have money. The Milwaukee Brewers are like cockroaches –– forever competitive, no matter who leaves.

And the Pirates? They’re still learning how to win. There’s a difference between being good and being ready to win a division over six months of baseball.

Winning divisions require depth that survives injuries, star power that carries slumps, proven lineup length and in-season aggressiveness. The Pirates may have taken steps toward that, but they have yet to prove that they can actually do it. And that's okay! They have to walk before they can run.

The Pirates have been rebuilding for so long that ESPN predicting them to win the division feels like a plot twist from a baseball multiverse. But while fans should definitely expect meaningful baseball this year, let's not demand a crown before this team has shown they can consistently take punches and answer back.

This Pirates team finally looks like a postseason threat. But until they prove it across 162 games, calling them division favorites feels like skipping a chapter in the story. Let them earn that. If they do? It'll be that much sweeter.