Pittsburg, PA
Soaring Pirates Closing in on Top 10 in MLB Power Rankings
PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates have played great baseball throughout 2026 and people across the sport are taking notice.
The Pirates moved up two spots in the latest power rankings from The Athletic, going up to No. 11 from No. 13, just one spot outside of the top 10 just three weeks into the season.
It’s not surprising to see the Pirates so high up, as they’re 10-6 so far, tied for the second-most wins in baseball and on top of the National League Central Division.
The Pirates are coming off of a 2025 campaign where they finished with the fifth-worst record in baseball and last in the NL Central, but have completely turned things around to start this season, which is due to work in the offseason internally and externally.
Pirates Offense Dominating in 2026
The Pirates had a great pitching staff last season, which led baseball with 19 shutouts, but were terrible from the plate and the worst hitting team in MLB in most categories.
Pirates Hitting Rankings in MLB
|
Stat (Total) |
MLB Ranking |
|---|---|
|
On-Base Percentage (.342) |
Fourth |
|
Hits (137) |
Sixth |
|
RBI (79) |
Tied-Sixth |
|
Runs Scored (82) |
Seventh |
|
Batting Average (.250) |
Seventh |
|
OPS (.734) |
Seventh |
|
Walks (70) |
Eighth |
|
Slugging Percentage (.392) |
Eighth |
|
Home Runs (18) |
Ninth |
General manager Ben Cherington and the front office went out and added via the trade market and in free agency to make their lineup better, which have made for one of the better hitting teams in baseball.
Trading for second baseman Brandon Lowe and signing free agent Ryan O’Hearn gave the Pirates power and veteran bats that they desperately needed
Lowe leads the Pirates with six home runs, while O’Hearn has slashed .321/.403/.536 for an OPS of .939, playing both in right field and at first base.
The Pirates have also gotten great production from players that have needed bounceback seasons in center fielder Oneil Cruz and left fielder Bryan Reynolds.
Cruz has an MLB-long 12-game hitting streak, the longest of his career, and has the best slash-line on the Pirates, .355/.429/.645 for an OPS of 1.074, with 22 hits, three doubles, five home runs, 16 RBI and seven stolen bases.
He has also greatly improved against left-handed pitchers, going from just a .102 batting average in 2025 to a .471/.526/1.000 slash line for an OPS of 1.526 with three home runs.
Reynolds has slashed .290/.375./484 for an OPS of .859, with three home runs and 12 RBI, after hitting below .200 at this point last season.
The Pirates also locked up top prospect Konnor Griffin to a record nine-year, $140 million contract, who will serve as their shortstop for the long-term and will eventually bring great power and a top bat overall.
Pitching Staff Continues Dominating for Pirates
The Pirates ultimately need their pitching staff to perform at the best of their abilities if they are going to make it to the postseason.
Pittsburgh has had general success with their pitcher so far, particularly from the starting rotation, but the overall staff has been dominant in different ways.
|
Stat (Total) |
MLB Ranking |
|---|---|
|
Batting Average Allowed (BAA) (.223) |
Fourth |
|
ERA (3.34) |
Fifth |
|
Strikeouts (156) |
Tied-Fifth |
|
K/9 (9.66) |
Seventh |
Pittsburgh has gotten great showings from their starting rotation, featuring Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes, veteran Mitch Keller, rookies in Braxton Ashcraft and Bubba Chandler, plus reliever-turned-starter Carmen Mlodzinski.
Skenes, surprisingly, has the highest ERA of the staff at 4.00, thanks to giving up five runs vs. the New York Mets on Opening Day in less than an inning, but has posted a 1.56 ERA in his past three starts.
Keller has been excellent at just a 1.00 ERA and three quality starts, Ashcraft is showing he’s no rookie on the mound, Chandler has some of the best pitches on the team and Mlodzinski has worked out of some jams and kept the Pirates in good shape in his second try in the rotation.
The Pirates have had issues with their bullpen, who have issued too many walks and struggled at times in 2026, but there’s reason that they can turn it around as well.
Pittsburgh has an excellent set-up/closer combo in left-hander Gregory Soto and Dennis Santana, who have a 1.04 ERA and 1.13 ERA, respectively.
Right-hander Yohan Ramírez is the biggest surprise out of the bullpen with a 1.86 ERA, fellow right-hander Isaac Mattson is back to his great form from last year at a 2.08 ERA and left-hander Mason Montgomery regularly throws a 100 mph fastball.
The Pirates will also get a boost from right-hander Jared Jones returning towards the end of May, early June from season-ending surgery last season too.
If Pittsburgh can keep up their great hitting and get better outings from their bullpen, then they should continue pushing for a spot in the postseason for the first time in a decade.
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Pittsburg, PA
NASA astronaut from Western Pa. returns to Pittsburgh for 1st time since suffering unprecedented medical event in space
This time, the warm-up was brief. After getting off to one of the chilliest starts (tied for 2nd coldest first 3 days when it comes to daily average temperature) on record in May, we saw two above-average days over the past two days.
We won’t make it three with temperatures today cooling down behind widespread morning rain. We’ve already seen our high temperature for today, with Pittsburgh seeing a daily high of around 62 degrees. That was our midnight temperature, but sometimes they adjust it slightly up or down due to the number being sent out technically happening around 8 minutes before the top of the hour.
Temperatures will be in the 50s for the rest of the day. Skies will be mostly cloudy with variable but breezy winds of around 15mph this afternoon.
It’ll be damp and cool. You’ll certainly want long sleeves this afternoon if you are outside for any extended period of time.
When it comes to rain chances, rain will be fairly consistent through around 8 o’clock, then become more scattered for the rest of the morning.
This afternoon is looking dry for pretty much everyone. I can’t totally rule out an isolated shower in the Laurel Highlands.
After today, our next rain chance comes Friday morning with the potential for an isolated shower or storm. There will be a better chance for rain on Saturday, with rain once again confined to the morning hours.
Saturday afternoon is looking dry. Mother’s Day is also looking dry for most of the day, with rain showers arriving after 4 p.m.
Highs will hit the low 70s ahead of the rain chance.
Pittsburg, PA
After all of Pittsburgh area’s Smokey Bones restaurants close, what should consumers do with gift cards?
All three remaining Smokey Bones locations in the Pittsburgh area have closed after the restaurant chain’s parent company filed for bankruptcy.
After the locations in Hempfield, Cranberry and at the Pittsburgh Mills in Frazer closed, people reached out to KDKA asking what to do with their unused gift cards.
Michael Litvak from Beaver County says he’s stuck with $100 worth of Smokey Bones gift cards.
“And the one in Robinson closed about, I guess it was maybe about two weeks ago, they closed it 3 weeks ago, but nothing was said when they closed that that they were closing any other locations,” Litvak said. “And then on April 28, I found out we were going to go to Smokey Bones in Cranberry with friends and our friends said, ‘hey, we just checked their site, we was gonna check the menu, and it says they’re closed.’ So I started looking around, and here they closed all their restaurants on April 28, not even letting anybody know.”
Gift cards are treated as unsecured claims in a bankruptcy. That means you’re in the back of the line, behind the banks and the landlords to get your money back, so the likelihood of recouping your money is slim to none.
What to do with Smokey Bones gift cards
If you bought the gift card with a credit card, that’s your best shot at getting money back. Contact the credit card company and ask for a chargeback for goods and services not received. But you have to ask fast. This works best if you’re only one to four months out from the purchase.
Did you get it from a third party? If you snagged the card on one of those big display sets at a Costco or grocery store, they’ll sometimes refund or exchange gift cards in special situations like this one.
If both fail, decide if it’s worth the hassle of filing a claim.
The Better Business Bureau recommends always checking with the company’s ownership. In this case, it’s FAT Brands. Right now, the BBB says the claim form and filing instructions are on FAT Brand’s website.
Even though FAT Brands owns other restaurants in the area, like Twin Peaks, they said they will not be honoring the Smokey Bones gift cards at those locations.
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