{"id":571899,"date":"2026-02-14T09:16:23","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T09:16:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/571899\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T09:16:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T09:16:23","slug":"why-this-national-league-central-club-could-be-the-surprise-of-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/571899\/","title":{"rendered":"Why this National League Central club could be the surprise of 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\tGambling content 21+. The New York Post may receive an affiliate commission if you sign up through our links. Read our <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/betting-editorial-standards\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">editorial standards<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n<p>Pitchers and catchers are reporting. Spring is here.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Now\u2019s the time to look for value on the <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/article\/best-baseball-betting-sites\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">MLB<\/a> futures market.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m starting in Pittsburgh, where the always-disappointing Pirates may be starting to turn things around with a strong pitching staff.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Pirates are led by reigning <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/11\/12\/sports\/paul-skenes-livvy-dunne-handled-cy-young-announcement-like-pros\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">National League Cy Young award winner Paul Skenes<\/a>, but there\u2019s plenty of talent behind him in their rotation.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Mitch Keller provides a solid veteran presence behind Skenes, while youngsters Bubba Chandler and Braxton Ashcraft are expected to play a big role this season.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Jared Jones, who showed ace-like flashes in 2024 before elbow injuries started plaguing him and took him out for the 2025 season, is hopeful to return early in the year.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>While their offense is far from their strength, it should be much-improved over last season, after adding sluggers Marcell Ozuna and Ryan O\u2019Hearn in free agency in addition to trading for second baseman Brandon Lowe.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The top prospect in all of baseball, Konnor Griffin, is also knocking on the door of the majors, giving the Pirates a potential major boost in their lineup.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38473445\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-2228079924.jpg\" alt=\"A male baseball player with a mustache, wearing a green baseball cap and a navy blue &quot;All-Star Futures Game&quot; t-shirt, stands with his arms crossed.\" class=\"wp-image-38473445\"  \/>Konnor Griffin #22 of the Pittsburgh Pirates looks on during batting practice prior to the 2025 MLB All-Star Futures Game  at Truist Park on Saturday, July 12, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia.  MLB Photos via Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>In an underwhelming National League Central, the stat nerds are expecting them to be around .500, with PECOTA and ZiPS both projecting the Pirates to go above 80 wins for the first time since 2018.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Oddsmakers slightly disagree with those rosy outlooks, pegging their win total a bit lower, likely given bettors\u2019 relative disinterest in one of baseball\u2019s smallest market clubs.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Learn all you need to know about MLB Betting<\/p>\n<p>Bet on Pittsburgh to be the surprise team in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>The play: Pirates Over 76.5 wins (-115, <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/betting\/draftkings-promo-code\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">DraftKings Sportsbook<\/a>) and make the postseason (+425)<\/p>\n<p>Why Trust New York Post Betting<\/p>\n<p>Dylan Svoboda is a versatile writer and analyst across many sports. He\u2019s particularly knowledgeable about the big three \u2014 MLB, the NFL and the NBA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gambling content 21+. The New York Post may receive an affiliate commission if you sign up through our&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":571900,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2396],"tags":[5,684,101,4,722,1690,61,2548,4203,64,185,1272,723],"class_list":{"0":"post-571899","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-mets","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-betting","10":"tag-mets","11":"tag-mlb","12":"tag-mlb-betting","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-mets","15":"tag-newyork","16":"tag-newyorkmets","17":"tag-pittsburgh-pirates","18":"tag-sports","19":"tag-sports-betting","20":"tag-sports-picks"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116068234252800695","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=571899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571899\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/571900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=571899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=571899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=571899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}