Reds clinching Wild Card makes Pirates’ brutal season look even worse

In one of the more surprising developments of the 2025 MLB season, the Cincinnati Reds took advantage of the New York Mets' collapse to secure a postseason berth for the first time since 2020. They are the third National League Central team to join the field, joining the Chicago Cubs and the division champion Milwaukee Brewers.

Meanwhile, in far less surprising news, the Pittsburgh Pirates' season is over in September. Again.

The Reds locking down a Wild Card spot in 2025 throws the Pirates’ collapse into even sharper focus because it highlights just how much of their NL Central rivals’ success has come from building in ways Pittsburgh should have been doing.

It also begs the question: What have the Pirates even been doing for the last six years under Ben Cherington?

Reds clinching postseason berth further magnifies Pirates' organizational failures, inability to compete in NL Central

Cincinnati wasn’t viewed as a powerhouse entering 2025, but they leveraged internal development (Elly De La Cruz, Noelvi Marte, Andrew Abbott, etc.) and smart roster additions (Gavin Lux, Brady Singer, etc.) to become a postseason team.

Meanwhile, the Pirates were supposed to be on a similar trajectory with their own young core. Instead, they regressed – badly – and ended up trading one of the members of that young core, Ke'Bryan Hayes, to Cincinnati at the trade deadline. Talk about adding insult to injury.

The Pirates have spent years preaching patience around their rebuild, yet by 2025, their supposed “window” has turned into another wasted season. The Reds, on the other hand, have already cashed in their youth movement with meaningful October baseball, making Pittsburgh look like it’s stuck in neutral (or maybe even in reverse).

Cherington and the Pirates have stressed that small-market teams need to “thread the needle” with roster construction. The Reds just showed it can be done, with mid-tier signings and shrewd trades pushing them into contention. That contrast makes the Pirates’ lack of urgency and questionable roster decisions (aging stopgaps like Tommy Pham, bullpen collapses, etc.) look even more indefensible.

For Pirates fans, it’s painful enough watching another lost season at PNC Park. Seeing Cincinnati fans celebrate a postseason berth at the same time rubs salt in the wound and reinforces the perception that ownership and management aren’t truly committed to competing.

The Reds proving they can hang with the NL’s playoff field reshuffles the balance of power in the NL Central. Instead of the Pirates being the next “up-and-coming” small-market contender, they’re falling behind not only the Cubs and Brewers, but now also the Reds.

The Reds' success isn’t just their story; it’s an indictment of the Pirates’ inability to turn promise into progress. Pittsburgh's 2025 season doesn’t just look bad in isolation; it looks wasted compared to what a rival in a similar situation managed to achieve.