3 best surprises of the 2024 Pittsburgh Pirates' season

The 2024 season was a letdown for many Pittsburgh Pirates fans. The team finished below .500 after they won 76 games last year, headed into the campaign with a healthy Oneil Cruz and Paul Skenes on the horizon, and were within striking distance of both a Wild Card spot and division title as late as the start of August. 

There are plenty of negatives to come from the 2024 season, but, somehow, plenty of positives as well. The aforementioned Cruz and Skenes were two of them, but the Pirates also had a handful of unlikely heroes step up during the season. Some of these players headed into the year with no expectations whatsoever, but have put themselves into a position to be key parts of the 2025 roster.

3 biggest Pirates surprises of 2024

Bailey Falter

When the Pittsburgh Pirates broke camp with Bailey Falter as their fifth starter, fans were not too pleased with the decision. After an unimpressive showing in the second half of 2023 and a horrible spring training, many hoped the Pirates would acquire another arm before the end of camp or put Quinn Priester in the rotation. Falter did not help his case by allowing six earned runs on two home runs (one of which was a grand slam) in his first outing of the season.

But after that, Falter proved to be a solid starter. Throughout his final 138.1 innings of the year, Falter had a 4.16 ERA, 4.11 FIP, and 1.27 WHIP. All three marks were around league average. Falter did not strike out many batters, with a 16.7% strikeout rate, but he limited walks well with a 7.4% BB% and only allowed home runs at an 0.98-per-9 rate.

Granted, some of the numbers under the hood do not like Falter’s work. He’s allowed a decent amount of hard contact, with a 90.3 MPH average exit velocity, and has a mediocre 8.8% barrel rate. His 4.84 SIERA and 4.63 xFIP are both well below average. Falter’s starts have been a mixed bag, as he posted a dozen outings where he allowed two or fewer earned runs, but nine more where he allowed four or more.

But Falter has proven to be a quality back-of-the-rotation-type arm. Heading into this season, Falter was only expected to help bridge the gap and keep the seat warm for Skenes until his eventual call-up. But now, he could have the inside track to the fifth spot of the rotation next year. That's progress.

Joey Bart

The Pirates had a lack of catching depth early in the year. They broke camp with Henry Davis as the primary backstop with Jason Delay as the second catcher. Endy Rodriguez was set to be out for most of the year because of Tommy John surgery, and Yasmani Grandal opened the year on the IL, too. But when Delay landed on the very same injured list during the first week of April, the Pirates made the move to acquire Joey Bart, who was designated for assignment by the San Francisco Giants.

Bart had long struggled to find his footing in the Major Leagues. Selected second overall by the Giants in the 2018 draft, Bart had just a .623 OPS in 503 plate appearances with the team that selected him. By this point, Bart had been surpassed on the depth chart by 2020 first-rounder Patrick Bailey, offseason signee Tom Murphy, and former Rule 5 draft pick (and Pirates prospect) Blake Sabol.

But since Bart got to Pittsburgh, he’s started to look like the power-hitting catcher many expected him to develop into when he was drafted. Through 282 plate appearances, Bart slashed .265/.337/.462 with 13 homers. Bart has significantly cut his strikeout rate down, going from 35.4% with the Giants to just 25.9% this year. His walk rate has also taken a huge step forward, from 6.4% to 7.8%. He has hit more home runs with the Pirates than he ever did with the Giants (11) and finished the season with a .347 wOBA and 121 wRC+.

Bart made quality contact at a high rate this season with a 9.4% barrel rate. Expected numbers paint there could be some regression in Bart’s future, but not a whole lot. He posted a .333 xwOBA and .444 xSLG%. Both marks were still above league average, and would still make him one of the most productive catchers in the league with the bat over a full season.

Bart hasn’t been great behind the plate in Pittsburgh; he put up -4 defensive runs saved and -3 framing runs after being acquired. He is quick on the draw, though, and his 1.99 second poptime is slightly better than average. Bart has a strong throwing arm, as his throws average out at 84.5 MPH.

Bart may have single-handedly kept the Pirates’ season alive much longer than it would have lasted without him. Davis did not take another step forward, as many expected him to, and Grandal did not provide much more than a solid secondary catching option. Without Bart, the Pirates would have been heavily relying on Delay, who, while not a horrible player, is mostly valuable in a secondary catcher role.