The Pittsburgh Pirates enter the 2026 season with a lot of expectations from fans. Pirates general manager Ben Cherington is on the hot seat, after failing to produce a single winning season for the club. Pittsburgh also faces questions about what will happen in the future for their ace, Paul Skenes.
Skenes is coming off a 2025 season that saw him win the National League Cy Young award. While the Pirates struggled to give him run support, Skenes showed Major League Baseball why is one of the most dominant hurlers in the game.
That very reason is why 2026 is so important for Skenes, and the Pirates. The clock is ticking before Skenes will be able to sign a deal with another team. Pittsburgh has talked to him about a contract extension, but Skenes hasn't agreed to it. He wants to see if Pittsburgh can field a winning ball club.
Entering the 2026 campaign, here are three bold predictions about what will happen with Skenes this season.
Paul Skenes will set a career-high in 2026 in wins
Pirates fans have watched in agony the last few seasons, while Skenes has posted some dazzling performances. That is because Skenes couldn't get victories. The team just wasn't able to give him run support.
In 2025, Pittsburgh had the worst offense in baseball. The Pirates were dead last in MLB in runs scored, home runs, and RBIs, per league stats. As a result, the team worked in the offseason to find some offense.
Pittsburgh did. The Pirates now have Brandon Lowe, Ryan O'Hearn and Marcell Ozuna to help out Skenes. The Bucs also have Konnor Griffin, a hard-hitting shortstop who is the top prospect in MLB. All these guys should be able to give Skenes some run support.
Due to this additional firepower, it is fair to suggest that Skenes will be getting some more victories in 2026. His current career-high for wins in a season came in 2024. That year he posted 11 victories.
The 2026 campaign will be Skenes' best yet for victories. Pirates fans, get your popcorn ready as Skenes will get north of 12 wins this season.
The Pirates star will again be named an All-Star
Skenes has represented Pittsburgh in the last two All-Star games. During the 2024 season, he started for the National League club even though he wasn't on the Pirates Opening Day roster.
That trend will continue in 2026. Due to Skenes' ability this coming season to pick up some more victories, the Pirates hurler will again make the All-Star team.
Skenes appears ready and excited for the challenge of the season ahead.
“Well, we’ve got a lot of talent,” Skenes said, per Sports Illustrated. “We have a lot of really good pitchers on the staff. We have a lot of buy-in to the culture that we’re trying to create, what we’re working to do every day. Everybody’s pushing in the same direction so we’ve been doing it a month-and-a-half now at Spring Training and it’s time to go do it for 162 in the regular season.”
Reading those words, Pirates fans can tell Skenes knows how important this season is. He clearly wants to go out and win games. Time will tell if that happens.
There's one last bold prediction to make about the star hurler.
Paul Skenes will lead the Pirates to the postseason
The biggest, boldest prediction is that Skenes will lead this team to a postseason appearance. With a lockout likely coming at the end of 2026, this season very well could be Skenes' last chance to make the postseason in Pittsburgh.
It's quite reasonable to think Pittsburgh can do it. The Pirates play in the NL Central, which saw three teams make the postseason in 2025. That included the Cincinnati Reds, who won 83 regular season games.
If Pittsburgh is going to get there this season, it will be Skenes leading the way. He is the unquestioned leader of this team's rotation. With a lifetime ERA of 1.96, Skenes has the arsenal to put this Bucs club on his back.
The Pirates last made the postseason in 2015. Pittsburgh finished the 2025 season with a 71-91 record.
