Why I Still Can't Fully Believe in the 2026 Pirates

If I've said it once, I've said it a million times: the summers from 2013 to 2015 were the best summers of my life.

I was a student at Clarion University of Pennsylvania—it's always going to be CUP to me—spending my days working at the snack stand at Fox Chapel Golf Club. When I wasn't working, I was playing NCAA Football on the Xbox 360. Every night at 7:05, though, I was planted on my couch, living and dying with every pitch of Pirates baseball.

Those summers will always mean something to me because they were the first time I experienced winning baseball as a Pirates fan.

I was born in June 1993, just months after Sid Bream slid across home plate and ended Pittsburgh's run of winning baseball. The next two decades were filled with losing seasons, rebuilding plans and disappointment. Then came Andrew McCutchen, Gerrit Cole, Starling Marte and one of the best bullpens in baseball. Suddenly, baseball mattered every single day.

Fast forward to the 2026 All-Star break.

The Pirates are three games over .500 for the first time at the break since winning 98 games in 2015. They're leading Major League Baseball in runs scored at the midpoint of the season for just the third time in the modern era.

So why can't I completely buy in?

Part of it is scar tissue from the last decade. Part of it is the bullpen.

During those playoff years, a lead after six innings felt automatic. Jared Hughes. Tony Watson. Mark Melancon. Jason Grilli. Once Clint Hurdle handed them the baseball, you could start celebrating.

This year has been the opposite.

The Pirates have watched nearly 20 ninth-inning leads disappear. The bullpen has turned comfortable victories into gut-punch losses. Instead of confidence, every close game has become an adventure.

Maybe that's why this season feels different emotionally.

Back then, Pirates baseball consumed my summers. I woke up thinking about the game. I counted down the hours until first pitch. Sundays meant tailgating on the North Shore before Sunday Night Baseball. Every inning felt important.

Now I find myself waiting for something to go wrong.

Maybe that's what years of disappointment do to a fan.

The offense has done everything anyone could have asked.

Ryan O'Hearn and Brandon Lowe have transformed the middle of the lineup. Nick Gonzales enters the break hitting .308, one of the best averages in the National League. Bryan Reynolds has quietly become even more dangerous now that he isn't carrying the offense by himself.

And reinforcements are on the way.

Before suffering a hand injury in early June, Oneil Cruz had finally begun putting everything together, batting .264 with 14 home runs, 44 RBIs and 21 stolen bases. Spencer Horwitz was in the middle of a breakout campaign, hitting .280 with an .842 OPS, 10 home runs and 33 RBIs.

This offense is good enough to play in October.

The question is whether the pitching will allow it.

Paul Skenes remains one of baseball's biggest stars, but this has also been the longest season of his life. Between the World Baseball Classic and the regular season, he's been under a heavier workload than ever before. His fastball has averaged closer to 96-97 mph after sitting in the upper 98s last season. Whether that's simply normal fatigue or something more significant remains to be seen.

Then there's Braxton Ashcraft.

He's arguably been the Pirates' best pitcher this season, but he entered the break with 113 1/3 innings after throwing 119 all of last year. Considering his injury history, including Tommy John surgery, it's fair to wonder how much he'll have left when the calendar flips to September.

The organization typically increases a young pitcher's workload gradually. If that's true again, can Ashcraft realistically make it through October?

Mitch Keller has struggled through stretches that resemble the early years of his career, although Bubba Chandler appears to be settling into the rotation.

Those questions matter because baseball has always come down to pitching.

Scoring runs gets you to October.

Preventing them keeps you there.

If games lasted seven innings, the Pirates might have the best record in baseball. Unfortunately, they don't.

For years, offense was the organization's biggest weakness.

Now offense is its greatest strength.

The bullpen has become the biggest obstacle standing between Pittsburgh and meaningful September baseball.

Maybe that's why I can't fully believe just yet.

Not because I don't think this team is talented.

Not because I don't think it can make the postseason.

But because I've seen too many promising seasons unravel when the pitching couldn't finish games.

General manager Ben Cherington still has time to change that.

Go get bullpen help.

Add another reliable arm.

Give Don Kelly—or whoever is writing the lineup card down the stretch—a bullpen capable of protecting the leads this offense creates.

I hope I'm wrong.

Nothing would make me happier than spending another September glued to Pirates baseball, scoreboard watching every night and believing again the way I did during those unforgettable summers from 2013 to 2015.

Because after 11 years without postseason baseball, Pittsburgh is ready to believe again.

The only question is whether this front office is ready to give fans every reason to.