Next up in our Rum Bunter staff predictions for the 2023 Pittsburgh Pirates is site contributor Brenden Zielinski
With Opening Day just around the corner, the Pittsburgh Pirates are looking to prove that they are no longer the laughingstock of the league. Ever since Ben Cheringon took office as the team's General Manager, fans have had mixed feelings about the "success" of the almost 5-year rebuild and haven't seen a lot of top prospects transition well to the Major Leagues.
However, there seems to be some optimism about the future and 2023 could be the end of this seemingly perpetual rebuild. Compared to prior offseasons, the Pirates actually went out and made multiple quality free agent signings and trades to bolster the Major League roster. Will these signings pan out? Will we lose 100+ games again? Who knows...only time will tell.
On paper, the Pittsburgh Pirates seem to have a significantly better team compared to the three prior rosters from 2020-2022, and some players on this season's squad are bound to surprise many fans across the game of baseball. With that being said, let's get into some realistic predictions for the Pirates!