Jared Triolo gave the Pirates plenty of reasons to believe in a 2026 breakout

Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Jared Triolo struggled badly in his first extended look in the major leagues in 2024. He hit just .216/.296/.315 with a .275 wOBA and 72 wRC+ over 446 plate appearances. He may have provided strong defense at multiple positions and won a utility man Gold Glove/was a finalist for the award again this year, but his bat made him nearly unplayable.

However, in 2025, he provided similar defensive value while improving his hitting. He turned in a .227/.311/.356 triple-slash, .296 wOBA, and 86 wRC+ over 376 trips to the plate. He was especially good down the line in August and September. That represented a 14 percentage point increase in wRC+, and there are plenty of reasons why Triolo could make another big jump in his performance in 2026.

Jared Triolo showed plenty of talent that could lead to a 2026 breakout with Pirates

Better bat speed

Triolo has never swung the bat as fast as someone like his teammate, Oneil Cruz, but bat speed is an integral part of the game, and he improved substantially in 2025. Between 2023 and 2024, Triolo's bat speed was only 70.2 MPH (69.3 MPH in '23, 70.5 MPH in '24). In 2025, he improved that average to 71.5 MPH. He was more aggressive, as his fast swing rate improved from just 6.2% in 2024 to 14.2% in 2025. That may not seem like much of a difference, but a swing at 71-72 MPH resulted in a .258 batting average and .417 slugging percentage. A swing speed between 69-70 MPH had an average .246 BA and just a .363 slugging percentage. 

Quality of contact

Improved bat speed usually means more hard contact, and this is another area where Triolo also improved. Between 2023 and 2024, his exit velocity only came in at 87.9 MPH. That was about one entire MPH lower than the average between 2023 and 2024. In 2025, he clocked in at around league average at 89 MPH. He also saw an uptick in barrel percentage, going from 5.3% to 6.2% over the last two seasons. 

Making more contact

Triolo may have become more aggressive, but it didn't affect his ability to make contact. He improved dramatically in this department in 2025. Between 2023 and 2024, Triolo posted a poor 27.6% strikeout percentage and a zone contact rate of 82.8%, which was still better than the league average, but could be improved. In 2024, he was only in the 34th percentile in whiff rate at 27.4%. He also whiffed nearly a third of the time in 2023 at 32.4%, though it was in a much smaller sample size of 204 plate appearances.

But 2025 was a much different story. Triolo cut his strikeout rate down to 20.2%. He made contact in the zone much more frequently as well, finishing at a rate of 87.3%. He can thank a dramatic improvement in whiff rate for all of this. That number clocked in at 24%, which was in the 52nd percentile of all batters.

Plate discipline

Triolo improved his bat speed, raw power, and ability to make contact without sacrificing his patience at the plate. He has always drawn walks at an above-average rate and is not one to swing outside the zone frequently. Between 2023 and 2024, his walk rate sat at 10.1%. His 25.1% chase rate in '24 was in the 72nd percentile. 2025 was much of the same. Triolo had a walk rate of 10.4% and a chase rate in the 73rd percentile, coming in at 24.1%.

Everything listed above indicates another step forward coming for Triolo. Hopefully, he's able to sustain that charge over a larger sample size.