Pirates’ Silver Slugger race exposes just how badly injuries wrecked their second-half lineup

Given the years of brutal offensive performance, it's no surprise that no Pittsburgh Pirates player has won the Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Award since Andrew McCutchen took home the trophy in 2015. There's a good chance that the dry spell ends this season, something we can all be thankful for.

Brandon Lowe has the best shot as he battles Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Brice Turang. Through Monday, Lowe leads all NL second basemen with an .807 OPS. His 29 homers are tops by a pretty wide margin, with Ketel Marte sitting in second place with 22. Lowe's 117 wRC+ ranks third.

A dark horse candidate to nab the award is Nick Gonzales. The 27-year-old is enjoying a breakout season, and while his lack of power (six homers, .393 SLG) will make this an uphill battle for him, the tone of the conversation changes if he can catch Luis Arraez for the NL batting crown. Arraez is hitting .313, while Gonzales is hitting .304. It is a tall task, but theoretically possible.

These performances would have put smiles on every Pirates fan's face last season during the ghastly ineptitude we watched, but this year, it almost feels like a disappointment.

The Pirates would have had many more Silver Slugger candidates if not for injuries that derailed the season

Pittsburgh's offense was a sight to behold in the first half. The team tied the Washington Nationals with the most runs scored in the majors with 516. The club led the way in batting average with a .263 mark, blasted the sixth-most homers with 125, and placed second in wRC+ with a 110 mark and OPS with a .768 number. It was a sight for sore eyes.

However, the second half has been a drastically different story. The Pirates have scored 202 runs, ranking 29th. Their .234 average places them 24th. The 45 dingers come in second-to-last, as do the team's 81 wRC+ and .661 OPS.

The wheels have fallen off, and Pittsburgh sits 6.5 games back of the final NL wild card spot, in large part due to that dramatic offensive downturn. But this isn't the case of a bunch of overachievers turning into pumpkins.

Instead, it's mostly been the injury bug that has caused the issues. Oneil Cruz missed 58 games, and the team went 26-32 without him. He'd be in the thick of the Silver Slugger conversation with Lowe if not for his hand fracture.

Ryan O'Hearn has missed time due to two separate IL stints, and though the Pirates have him back now for the final stretch, they've sorely missed his presence.

While it's feasible that the Pirates could have survived those two injuries thanks to some depth and shuffling pieces around, others have been more difficult to overcome. Konnor Griffin, missing 72 games, left Pittsburgh in the lurch at shortstop, while the drop-off from Endy Rodriguez to Henry Davis with the bat at catcher has been dramatic.

Here's the silver lining. Pretty much all of these players will be back next season. The Pirates will need to pull out all the stops to re-sign Lowe and also add some depth, but the foundation for a quality offense is already here. They might break the Silver Slugger ice in 2026 and then really take off in 2027.

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The Pirates would have had many more Silver Slugger candidates if not for injuries that derailed the season

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