Pittsburgh Pirates: Optimism for More Lineup Power in 2024

The Pittsburgh Pirates need more power to be produced from their lineup for the 2024 Major League Baseball season. While this is an obvious statement, as the team pretty much needs more power every year, it is something that should improve in 2024. If it does not, then this team will once again most likely be on the outside looking in by the end of the year.

Last year the team ranked 28th overall in homeruns. They hit 159 total homers throughout the seasoon. The only two teams that were behind them were the Cleveland Guardians and the Washington Nationals. The team was bottom 10 in slugging percentage and ISO (FanGraphs measurement of raw power). So it is interesting as they do rank closer to #20 than they do #30 in these two stats.

This might be one of the positives to take away from the 2023 season, as the team is showing a little more power in different ways than home runs. With so many young players, could some of those extra-base hits start to turn into home runs? Maybe, but nonetheless, it is still not super inspiring overall.

However dangerous it may be, there should be optimism regarding the team's power potential going into 2024. The most obvious will be having Oneil Cruz back in the lineup. Cruz has some of the best raw power in Baseball, he should enter the 30+ home run mark if he is on the field for the full season. While this may seem overly optimistic Cruz needs to hit the ground running to get back on track.