Paul Skenes will welcome some new Pittsburgh Pirates to the fold in 2026.
The Pirates have made several moves to bolster a lineup that struggled to give Paul Skenes run support during a National League Cy Young Award campaign. Pittsburgh acquired Ryan O’Hearn, Brandon Lowe, Jake Mangum and Jhostynxon García, also adding Gregory Soto and Mason Montgomery to the bullpen.
Skenes looked ahead to the 2026 season in an interview with Jason MacKey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
“It’s looking right now like we have a better roster than last year,” Skenes said. “But if we want to win, we have to go out there and do it.”
Skenes said he’s reached out to several new players and appreciated their public comments about joining the Pirates. The club has more firepower to snap a decade-long playoff drought, but the 23-year-old knows they still train hard to build a winning mentality once pitchers and catchers report.
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“The thing I’ve learned the past two years — because there’s hope every year when you show up to spring training — is that if we want to accomplish something, there’s nothing standing in our way other than ourselves,” Skenes said. “We have to put in the work and do the right things starting Feb. 9.
“Really it started a long time ago. It started the moment our season ended. But if we want to accomplish something, we have to take it.”
The Pirates have spent the offseason revamping their lineup to capitalize on a strong rotation led by Skenes. However, the ace didn’t want to hear about any added pressure to optimize his time with the organization.
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“I hate the word urgency,” Skenes said. “I hate relying on other people. I’ve seen it in press conferences — and I’m not criticizing anybody — but I hate the word urgency. Because it’s like, ‘Oh, there’s urgency this offseason? What the (expletive) have we been doing the last however many offseasons?’”
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