Why the Pirates must continue to steal bases at a high rate to begin 2025

One thing that the Pirates have missed for multiple years has been power at the plate. They have a handful of guys with 20-homer potential, but, annually, are near the bottom of the league in home runs.

Although it is early and, well, we are all frustrated with the slow start, we can overreact to the lack of home runs to begin 2025 as well. They will eventually come around, but right now, the power is not there and the Pirates needed to find another way to generate runs.

With just three home runs through the first five games, the Pirates have done something that they have not done consistently in years past, which is steal bases. In 2024 as a team, Pittsburgh stole just 106 bases, which is significantly less than one a game. It is also 15 steals away from the league average and 117 fewer than the Nationals, the MLB leader.

Now, to begin the 2025 season, Pittsburgh has already stole 19 bases, which leads all of baseball by a wide margin. The team behind them is the Padres at 10. The Pirates have also only been caught stealing twice, which is very impressive.

Pirates need to continue to steal bases to make up for lack of power

It should not be out of the picture for the Pirates to be stealing bases the way that they are. Oneil Cruz, their leader with six, showed a sprint speed of 28.8 feet per second in 2024. Isiah Kiner-Falefa has four thus far and ran 27.8 feet per second in 2024.

Some of their other guys who could also emerge as base stealers are Jack Suwinski (28.3 f/sec), Bryan Reynolds (28.0 f/sec), and Jared Triolo (28.5 f/sec). Ji Hwan Bae can steal bags too, but his hiccups against Miami are likely going to take him away from pinch running opportunities, despite his speed reaching 29 feet per second. He also may be sent down for Alexander Canario, a new outfielder without any minor league options, so that will solve that.

Stealing bags should definitely be a priority for Pittsburgh with their lack of power. They need to complement their starting rotation with run scoring or else we're looking at another lost year.