Playoffs

Are the Playoffs Near for the Buccos?

By Brandon Coury

The Pittsburgh Pirates will make the postseason in one of the next two seasons. The core of young players already in the majors, combined with the many top prospects that will soon make their debuts should be enough to elevate this team to a playoff spot. Led by Bryan Reynolds, Ke’Bryan Hayes, and Kevin Newman, this group of talented young players could help lead this once storied franchise back to the promise land. In 2022, we could see the debuts of top prospects such as Nick Gonzales, Travis Swaggerty, Quinn Priester, Tucupita Marcano, and others. Also, Pirates fans should get to see much more of O’Neil Cruz and Roansy Contreras this upcoming season. The weak spot with this team is definitely the starting rotation, however. The rotation will probably look something like: JT Brubaker, Zach Thompson, Bryce Wilson, Jose Quintana, and the ace Mitch Keller. This needs to be improved upon to make the playoffs in the next two years, but I believe it will with Roansy Contreras and Quinn Priester set to join the rotation by no later than 2023. The Pirates should be much more competitive this season, and don’t be shocked to see the Pirates in the playoffs in 2023, especially if the playoffs expand to 12 or 14 teams.