On May 31st, 2025, the Pittsburgh Pirates secured an upset 5-0 win on the road in San Diego against the Padres. Andrew McCutchen hit a home run, four Pirates had multi-hit games, and a trio of bullpen arms helped keep the slate clean after left-handed starter Bailey Falter went over six strong innings.

It was a pleasant surprise for the Pirates in the midst of a six-game western road trip, but it was a rare win in the month of May. With their final game in the books for that month last year, Pittsburgh went a measly 10-18; those ten wins were tied for the fewest win total in any full-time month last season.

The team was absolutely miserable. The win brought the Pirates little comfort in the standings, lifting them to only 15 games below .500 with a record of 22-37. Six of the starters in that game had an OPS lower than .685. Three of them had an OPS under .600.

Derek Shelton had been fired a little over three weeks ago as Pirates manager, jettisoned in favor of bench coach and Yinzer Don Kelly. Donnie Ball, as it came to be known, had led the Pirates to roughly .500 ball in the weeks following Shelton’s firing, and just a few games under water would be a staple of Kelly’s record as manager in 2025.

But no matter what new tactics, traits, or belief Kelly brought in, a 12-26 hole the Pirates put themselves in was too much for any manager to climb out of. In four months’ time, the Pirates would finish another vastly disappointing campaign at 71-91, their worst record in three years.

What a difference a year makes.

Exactly 365 days later, the vibes surrounding this Pirates team have done almost a complete 180. The Pirates are capping off the month of May with a sweep of the Minnesota Twins (ironically, against their old skipper in Shelton) propelling them to four games above .500 and giving them a winning month.

The toppling of the Twins was the second half of a homestand that saw the Pirates score 25 runs over the series and finish their stay at PNC Park 5-2. They saved their most convincing win for last, winning 9-3 in a statement game.

Five batters in yesterday’s lineup had an OPS north of .793. Seven of them were batting at least .255. Their pitching was powered by another dominant performance from righty Braxton Ashcraft, who is quickly establishing himself as one of the best starting pitchers in the National League.

No, this 2026 team is not perfect. The bullpen is still an issue, they’ve struggled with some depth when injuries test them, and defense is certainly not their strongest area.

But there’s real hope when it comes to this ballclub.

It started with a completely revamped roster. Brandon Lowe and Ryan O’Hearn mark the big external differences, rounded out with names like Jake Mangum (who hopefully is starting to bounce back into Tampa Bay shape).

It continues with bounce back seasons from outfielders Bryan Reynolds and Oneil Cruz. Though both of them still have their defensive warts, getting two of the team’s more longer-tenured bats back to where they belong was a huge step in cultivating a legitimate major league lineup.

But maybe the biggest difference-maker was a shortstop who wasn’t even in the lineup.

Rookie phenom Konnor Griffin has represented this new wave of optimism not only about the present, but for the future as well. And unlike last year, where an injury to someone as important as Griffin would have surely sunk an already drowning team, there’s way less doom and gloom following that news this year.

Yes, his absence will hurt over the next week or two, but the Pirates have a refreshing amount of other bats to help pick up the tab while Griffin rests his arm.

The Pirates still obviously have a long way to go before we can talk about Buctober making its long-awaited return, but this feels like the best chance the team has had in years to making that a reality.

The 2023 team was a Cinderella run that saw the clock strike midnight before May was over. The 2024 roster was rickety all the way until the trade deadline, when everything gave out at once. The 2025 club was a disaster from the very beginning.

This time, these Pirates might actually have a shot. They’re in a stacked NL Central right now, the only division in baseball where every team has a winning record. Through the first two months, they’ve shown at the very least that they can fight their way through the schedule and stay in the mix.

Now, as we turn the calendar over to the heart of the season, it’s a matter of staying in the race and keeping pace with their opponents. This year’s team at least has a chance of doing that, the one thing fans in this town have been wanting for years.