Comparing the Cardinals' current roster to their division foes

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates spent yet another year in the cellar of the NL Central but displayed much better potential than their 76-86 record shows. While most of the news surrounding the Pirates comes from generational talent Paul Skenes, there are other parts of the roster that could provide a spark for another young club.

Starting Rotation

By now, even casual fans know that what Skenes does on the mound is nothing short of sensational. Despite spending the first month of the year "developing" in the minors, Skenes dominated major league hitters in 23 starts on the way to winning the Rookie of the Year award and a third-place Cy Young finish. A full year of Skenes can provide a jolt to the Pirates, but unfortunately for them, he can only pitch every five days and never has a bat in his hand.

Behind Skenes slots 28-year-old veteran Mitch Keller, who is coming off a down year after an All-Star season in 2023. Keller's struggles in 2024 come from his decreased strikeout numbers and increased walk rate. Despite the struggles, Keller still pitched close to 180 valuable innings for the young team. Following Keller in the rotation is most likely Jared Jones, another 22-year-old who made his debut with the big league club last season. While not receiving the same fanfare as Skenes, Jones provided over 120 innings of solid major league performance, tallying a 1.19 WHIP and 9.8 K/9.

The fourth spot looks to be lefty Bailey Falter's job to lose after he was healthy for 28 starts and a good enough 8-9 record. To provide further value in the rotation, though, Falter needs to improve his mediocre strikeout and walk rates so he can work deeper into games as he averaged barely over 5 innings per start. To round out the rotation, the Pirates are leaving the door open to a multitude of possibilities. While probably not expected to be big players in the free-agent pitcher market, the team has added veteran arms before with the thought of stability and trade deadline value. They also have more pitching prospects knocking at the door of the big league level but they may opt for more proven arms to give these prospects more time to develop.

Bullpen

Another NL Central team with a high-quality closer, the Pirates decided to keep David Bednar at last year's trade deadline despite receiving league-wide interest in the power righty. Bednar might have lost some value last year after struggles knocked him in and out of the closer role as he notched his highest full-season ERA by more than double his career average. At this point, the Pirates may be better off starting the season with Bednar back in the closer role to hopefully recoup any value before a potential deadline deal.

Behind Bednar are additional arms that will most likely be some combination of high-level prospects or established veterans. The Pirates have done well in recent years trading relievers at the deadline and receiving minor league lottery tickets in return.

Infield

Headed into the last month of the season, the Pirates announced that normal shortstop Oneill Cruz would be the full-time center fielder in 2025, creating a position of need for Pittsburgh in the current offseason. The Pirates traded for utility man Isiah Kiner-Falefa at last year's deadline and he is now penciled in to fill Cruz's spot at short. While not as flashy or offensively gifted as Cruz, IKF should provide fine value.

Of the NL Central teams, the Pirates have been the most recently active team as they traded for infielder Spencer Horwitz from the Blue Jays earlier this week. The deal sent a trio of pitchers back to Toronto with Horwitz coming to Pittsburgh to play some second base along with his DH role. Everyday keystone duties will be going to Nick Gonzalez, with former Gold Glove winner Ke'Bryan Hayes taking his normal spot at third. With the Pirates allowing Connor Joe to test the free agent market, there is no set answer for the team at first. In years past, the Pirates have found low-cost, high-power bats to fill first base, but may be more inclined to see what their minor-league prospects can provide at the big-league level.

Outfield

The shift of Cruz to the outfield helps to shore up a position of need alongside veteran switch hitter Bryan Reynolds. Each player put up quality years at the plate but still need a third player to round out the starting lineup. Some combination of Michael A. Taylor, Jack Suwinski, and catcher/outfielder Henry Davis may be asked to compete for the main role.

Manager

Derek Shelton is expected to be back at PNC Park for his sixth season after seeing the team go from 62 wins to 76 wins in each of the past two seasons. For Shelton to stay on board for this year and beyond, however, he will need to show that he can make a difference to the young team and push towards the 80-win mark.

The NL Central has been seen as a division that is very competitive among the teams in it but does not strike much fear in the rest of the league. With every team in the division looking at noticeable holes in their current rosters, it will be interesting to follow the remainder of the offseason. It may be time for one team to simply outspend the others to take advantage of what appears to be another mediocre year in the NL Central