Yeah, Paul Skenes is probably going to win the NL Cy Young, but let’s get to the award that really matters.

Who will be crowned the Most Random Pirate of 2025?

While games played isn’t always a direct indicator of a player’s “randomness,” it certainly helps if they didn’t play a lot. After all, the less they played, the less memorable they were. But the process for selecting finalists is quite rigorous and, I assure you, highly official in nature.

This year, like many others in recent Pirate time, certainly provided us with some candidates for who could take home this most coveted award. But, there can only be one! Let’s meet the finalists below:

Génesis Cabrera

Génesis Cabrera joined a rare list in major league history this season, suiting up for four different major league teams. But he actually dawned six different uniforms overall on his baseball tour across the United States.

The lefty pitched for the New York Mets, Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Minnesota Twins in the major leagues, as well as Triple-A Syracuse and Triple-A St. Paul.

Cabrera pitched briefly for the Mets and Cubs before he was designated for assignment by the latter team in late June. On the 26th, he found work in Pittsburgh, signing a contract with the Pirates as the team was looking for arms to supplement their bullpen.

He made his debut the following night, going 1.1 innings and recording one strikeout. The only baserunner he allowed that game was a plunked batter.

Cabrera pitched 11 innings for the Pirates through July and early August, posting a 4.91 ERA (six earned runs) before his time was up. His final outing with the Pirates was August 2nd, seeing him allow a solo home run in an eventual 8-5 loss to Colorado.

He was DFA’d on the 4th and eventually picked up by Minnesota, where he spent the rest of the season. Through his four teams and 41 total MLB innings, Cabrera posted a 6.59 ERA.

Nick Solak

Rarely has a fan base been as interested, or perhaps divided, on a journeyman ballplayer the way we were with Nick Solak earlier in the year.

As the Pirate offense was (predictably) struggling, a minor league free agent signing was absolutely mashing the ball in Triple-A. Through the first month and a half of the minor league season, Solak was slashing an absurd .393/.452/.625 (1.077 OPS) with six home runs and 19 RBI in 32 games.

It doesn’t really matter who you are or what your career résumé is, if you’re hitting almost .400 somewhere, it’s going to get some attention. Solak eventually did catch the eyes of the major league club, who called him up on May 16th.

Unfortunately for Solak, there wasn’t a ton of opportunity for him in Pittsburgh, and what little chances he did get, he didn’t make an immediate impact with.

Solak got into three starts in his first four days, going 1-for-10, but rode the bench for over a week before his next appearance on the field. That final game, on May 28th, saw Solak come in late as a replacement, where he got only one at-bat.

And that was it. Solak finished his brief Pirates stint 1-for-11 with two strikeouts. He was DFA’d and subsequently elected free agency, but wound right back up in Indianapolis.

He still performed well at the plate down there, slashing .309/.396/.443 (.839 OPS), but it wasn’t quite as good as his early season run, and that second chance in 2025 he was hoping for never came.

He was, however, named team MVP in Indianapolis.

Brett Sullivan

The Pirates have a recent history of a random catcher playing a very limited amount of games for them. In 2023, it was Tyler Heineman. Last year, it was Grant Koch. This season, it was Brett Sullivan.

Sullivan was acquired by the Pirates in an early season minor league trade with San Diego, sending outfielder Bryce Johnson (who spent 2024 with the Padres) and cash. Johnson, for his part, put up quite the run with the Padres after he was called up in mid-June. He slashed .342/.377/.438 (.815 OPS) in 52 games through the rest of the season.

Sullivan, meanwhile, spent most of the year in Triple-A. Called up at a time of catching injuries for the big league club, Sullivan assumed the backup catcher role and figured into three games behind the dish for the Pirates back in early-to-mid June. He went 1-for-6 with a pair of RBI, three strikeouts, a walk, a sacrifice hit, and a hit by pitch before he was sent back down.

In Triple-A Indianapolis, he slashed .203/.265/.328 (.592) with four home runs and 29 RBI in 65 games.

Michael Darrell-Hicks

Michael Darrell-Hicks is now eligible to join the One-Game Wonder club in Pittsburgh, pitching in just one game for the Pirates this summer.

He started the year in Los Angeles with the Angels organization. Darrell-Hicks was promoted in early April, where the righty had a rough major league debut, allowing three hits, four earned runs, and three walks against Houston. He performed much better in four subsequent performances, but was sent back to Triple-A.

The Angels gave him one more shot the following month, but a three-run inning led to him eventually being DFA’d by the Angels.

His Angels time ended with a 9.39 ERA (eight earned runs in 7.2 innings), and his Triple-A numbers in Salt Lake were remarkably similar. Darrell-Hicks posted a 8.87 ERA (22 earned runs in 22.1 innings) with the Bees before he left the organization.

He was claimed off waivers from LA by the Pirates on June 13th, and assigned to Triple-A Indianapolis. There, he made two scoreless appearances before the Pirates briefly called him up. Darrell-Hicks made a spot appearance on June 24th, covering two innings and recording a pair of strikeouts in a 9-3 loss to Milwaukee.

He was optioned two days later, ironically because the team had signed Génesis Cabrera to a deal.

The rest of the season saw him pitch in Indianapolis, where still he struggled to get his stats under control. He pitched to a 9.00 ERA in 14 innings the rest of the way. Across both levels and organizations, opposing batters slashed a combined .333/.403/.542 (.946 OPS) against him.