Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Isiah Kiner-Falefa (7) greets catcher Joey Bart (14) crossing home plate on a two-run home run against the Washington Nationals during the first inning at PNC Park. / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
It was a tale of two halves for the Pittsburgh Pirates last season.
After going 48-48 before the All-Star Break, the Pirates appeared to be headed in the right direction when they took two out of three from the Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros to improve to 55-53 heading into August. Then the wheels came off.
Pittsburgh was a porous 8-19 in August, effectively knocking it out of the running for a spot in the playoffs. Overall, the Pirates were 21-33 in the final two months.
With the struggles of last season in the rearview mirror, Pirates catcher Joey Bart believes his team has everything it takes to improve in 2025.
"We're just excited," Bart said on MLB Network Radio. "We were a really good team for a while there and kind of just got off course post-deadline. Before then we were beating a lot of really good teams, and I think we're just excited. I think we need to put an everyday team out there and be more consistent from myself all the way across and let things play out. This is a beautiful game. There's a lot of things that happen that you can't control, and we'll just go out there every day with the right direction to win and that's what I'm excited about."
Bart's health will be key in the Pirates taking the next step. Bart thrived in his first season in Pittsburgh when he was healthy, setting career highs with a .265/.337/.462 slash line along with 13 home runs and 45 RBIs in 80 games. A hamstring and left thumb injury cost the right-handed hitting catcher a decent chunk of the 2024 season.
Getting more out of the offense and bullpen and improving in one-run ballgames will be essential to the Pirates' success in 2025. Pittsburgh ranked in the bottom 10 in nearly every major hitting stat and its bullpen had the fourth-highest ERA last season. The Pirates were also 25-26 in one-run ballgames, which included going 2-8 in such games in August.
Pittsburgh will largely be leaning on the same team from last year that went 76-86 for a second straight season. With the struggles they endured at the end of last season, those lessons could prove to be essential in helping the Pirates stay the course throughout 2025.