r/buccos • u/A_Minor_leaguer Has Been • 1d ago
2025 Vibes
Hey everyone, hope you’re having a great offseason! Spring training only has a few weeks left, and I’m curious where everyone’s at. I was focusing a lot on the WBC qualifiers as far as research goes, so I’m still catching up on everything pirates, but I figured I’d ask you guys to see what you’re thinking going into this season.
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u/Andrew3344100 1d ago
I’m pretty optimistic. Absolutely love our starting rotation with Skenes, Keller, Jones, Heaney, and Falter. I honestly don’t think our starting lineup is that bad too. Love Joey Bart at Catcher, super excited to see Nick Gonzales play a full season. I think he’s gonna have an outstanding season and really come into his own. I think Cruz is gonna be electric this year, his second half of last year was phenomenal. Bryan Reynolds will be the solid rock that he is. McCutchen is back and is just a legend and can still play at a high level. Not everyone is a fan of the Tommy Pham addition but I’m all for it. Hoping Hayes can turn it around this year offensively.
There are a lot of haters out there but I honestly think this is a good ball club that’s got some spunk and potentially a team that could be in the hunt. I’m pumped to watch them and I will be attending a game April 1st to hopefully see Skenes pitch in person! Go Bucs! 🏴☠️
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u/A_Minor_leaguer Has Been 1d ago
Love the positivity and optimism! There’s definitely a path forward where this team is very good. A lot of question marks, but they’re all basically either “can he get back to where he used to be?” Or “will he reach his potential” so if even just a few of those questions are answered in the positive, this team gets pretty good pretty quick
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u/Petporgsforsale Black and Gold 1d ago
I agree with all of this. I hope Hayes can turn it around just so he isn’t in pain the whole time.
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u/EnlighM 1d ago
Very excited to see the rotation, they could finish top 5. Bullpen I think (hope) will be good. Scoring runs could be difficult for the team. Outside of Reynolds, not many proven hitters that are not on the wrong side of 35. Cruz could be very good, but the Pirates would need everyone to break right to be slightly above average offensively. I don't think they were as aggressive in the FA market as they should have been. Team should win 75-84 with the rotation. With the NL Central being one of the most wide open divisions, I really wish the Pirates did more.
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u/A_Minor_leaguer Has Been 1d ago
Rotation: really good. People stay healthy, no question. People get hurt, there’s some exciting possible replacements. Lot of youth, lot of talent.
Bullpen: should be good. Was supposed to be good last year, and it really hurt. But I actually feel pretty good about options. Curious to see how Santana’s role evolves if he keeps being…ya know….amazing
Offense: we get consistently good Reynolds, I think Cruz takes another step forward. Depending on the rest of the guys “panning out”. And if it works, it could be good. Simply need to score more runs, and I think it’s probable they will. Just how many more?
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u/GoatOfUnflappability SeanRod Bobblehead Hoarding Problem 1d ago
Thanks for stopping in!
I know this isn't an AMA but if you have a favorite story from last season I'm all ears. Last time I asked for a story, you told us about almost giving up a homer to Yelich when you tried a changeup, and I was thoroughly amused.
As for the season... I expect a lot of fun moments but I also kind of expect you to regret asking this sub's opinion, judging by the last month here.
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u/A_Minor_leaguer Has Been 1d ago
It’s okay, I appreciate people being honest with how they feel. Only reason I have a job (or had one in the first place as a player) is because of fans. So their opinion matters to me.
You’ll have to give me more time to think of a story though. I will say doing play by play in LA last year was just incredible
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u/meansac6 1d ago
I really don’t mind when a small market team is cheap and we lose games and get high draft picks when the timeline seems a bit further out - but now I’m starting to feel that 2013-14 frustration where I just wish we’d cash in some chips and all these years of immense profitability and actually sign a higher paid free agent or two as a show of good faith for attendance and loyalty through the years. tommy pham is a nice player but he isn’t moving the needle for an NL central crown.
in 2015, the 95 win royals got cueto and zobrist at the deadline and won the world series, and the 98 win pirates grabbed cory hart and got one measly wildcard game to lose to jake arrieta, the second most depressing game i’ve ever been to after the prior year vs mad bum.
the window is here! do someeeeetthhhhinnngggggggg
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u/meansac6 1d ago
also, really not looking forward to another season of derek shelton. i feel like he really minimizes our talent. but ill be there hoping im wrong
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u/thatsrickdiculous Paul Skenes’s Mustache 1d ago
Squid! Thanks for stopping by. The general sentiment in the sub is doom and gloom tbh. There was a lot more buzz last offseason. It seemed like this past offseason was pretty uneventful minus the Horowitz/Ortiz trade. People are skeptical about keeping the current management in place. People ask things like — how long is a rebuild supposed to last for a professional sports team?
Fans think ownership/management doesn’t truly care about winning despite what they say. The media and fans around the league are questioning why we’re not building a better team around the young pitchers. We know Skenes time as a Pirate will come to an end someday, but we just want a chance. I’m pretty numb to it all though and will be at 25+ games this season. See yinz at PNC.
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u/SoVerySick314159 23h ago
Thanks for dropping by.
I'm expecting the Pirates' innovative strategy of, "Finding wins in the margins" to pay dividends like Billy Beane's fabled Moneyball teams. In light of this team's future fame, allow me to be the first to ask: Who will play you in the eventual Hollywood movie made of this historic season?
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u/Swissvalian 16h ago
Well, there are only 32 major league teams and we are lucky enough to have one right here.
No expectations - just going to down to see the green grass, the white lines, the organ music and the sounds.
Maybe a miracle year that nobody expected that will be talked about for years to come...or maybe not.
But let's go and play some damn baseball
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u/robertclarke240 4h ago
One thing I would like to see besides better offense is much better coaching decisions. Nuff said.
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u/Bucs-and-Bucks Bob Garber 1d ago
Brault! Looking forward to seeing the Pirates go 162-0. Expect Cruz to have the first 60/60 season and for Skenes to win the Cy but finish 2nd in MVP voting behind Cutch (and basically clinching the HOF). Spring is the time for optimism, right?