Ryan O’Hearn couldn’t contain his excitement to join the Pittsburgh Pirates, believing that with a pitching staff led by a generational talent such as National League Cy Young winner Paul Skenes, they were only one or two pieces away from being a legitimate postseason contender.
And O’Hearn is big on belief. He was designated for assignment twice in 2023, only to evolve into a slugger who started as the designated hitter for the American League in the All-Star Game last summer.
“I always believed I could be a force in this league,” O’Hearn said Thursday afternoon during an introductory news conference at PNC Park that was attended by Pirates chairman Bob Nutting. “I knew that I was still getting better, still growing. I just kept going. When you get it taken away like that, it makes it all that more important to you. I don’t take a day for granted in the big leagues.
“Every day in the big leagues is a blessing, to put on this amazing uniform that Roberto Clemente wore and Honus Wagner and all these legends and I get to play a major-league baseball game. So, gratitude is huge. I love playing the game of baseball, and I get to do it on the biggest stage. What more can you be excited about?”
Ryan O’Hearn expresses his excitement about signing with the Pirates, explains his evolution as a hitter. pic.twitter.com/AulZCrwtG4
— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) January 8, 2026
O’Hearn has many blessings to count and reasons to be excited over the past two weeks. His wife, Hannah, gave birth to their daughter Harper 11 days before O’Hearn signed a two-year, $29 million contract to serve as the left-handed power hitter the Pirates so desperately desired to add.
It marks the first time the Pirates have signed a player to a multi-year free-agent deal since December 2016, when they added reliever Daniel Hudson on a two-year, $11 million deal and starter Ivan Nova on a three-year, $26 million deal three days later.
The 32-year-old O’Hearn is coming off a career year in which he batted .281/.366/.437 and recorded personal bests in hits (133), home runs (17), RBIs (63), runs scored (67) and total bases (207) in 133 games, split between the Baltimore Orioles and San Diego Padres, who acquired him at the trade deadline.
The additions of O’Hearn and two-time All-Star second baseman Brandon Lowe, a switch hitter who had 31 homers last season, have added some much-needed pop to the Pirates’ lineup this offseason after they ranked last in MLB in home runs, RBIs, slugging and OPS and finished with 91 losses and in last place in the NL Central.
“We went into the offseason, as everybody knows, intent on adding to our lineup, adding to our offense and, in particular, ideally with a proven, major-league left-handed bat. Clearly, Ryan checks all those boxes,” Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said. “And, just as important to us, based on our work this offseason, Ryan also checks all of the character and teammate and human being boxes that we want in the guys walking into the group, getting ready to play and win games every night.”
Almost as important to the Pirates, O’Hearn brings a reputation as a “dependable, stable, consistent presence in a clubhouse,” Cherington said, and someone whose love for the game is considered contagious.
Historically, O’Hearn has fared far better against right-handed pitching, with a career .258 average, but he posted a .278/.358/.474 slash line against lefties left season. He called the prospect of sending a ball over the 21-foot Clemente Wall in right field and into the Allegheny River “really exciting to me.”
What excites the Pirates is how O’Hearn continues to improve. He hit 38 homers and had 131 RBIs in 342 games over five seasons in Kansas City but was designated by the Royals and traded to the Orioles for cash considerations.
O’Hearn also was DFA’d by Baltimore that spring, then hit 42 homers and 162 RBIs in 348 games by improving his pitch selection and increasing his batting average by 58 points, on-base percentage by 49 and OPS by 113. He transformed from a negative bWAR player (minus-2.6 with the Royals) to a 5.2 bWAR in three seasons, including 2.4 bWAR last year.
“He’s made adjustments in his decision-making. Also, the swing itself, how he’s attacking pitchers,” Cherington said. “It’s been fun talking to him about that. Maybe most important, I think he’s the type of guy who’s going to keep doing that. There’s a constant cat-and-mouse game. Guys are going to adapt and counterattack. You have to do the same thing back. Him doing that himself is important but also as a model for other guys. That’s got to be a constant.”
The Pirates are counting on O’Hearn and Lowe to bring not only big bats but a winning attitude and postseason experience to a team that has endured seven consecutive losing seasons. O’Hearn shared that he became close with Lowe at the All-Star festivities, sharing a flight back from Atlanta to Tampa Bay, courtesy of the Rays.
“He’s, obviously, an elite hitter, an elite player, but he brings the intangibles in the clubhouse, the attitude, the mindset that we’re looking to embrace every single day to continue to push toward winning here in Pittsburgh,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said of O’Hearn, who joked that the two bonded over their DFA on a phone call that convinced him to do a deal with the Pirates. “It’s, unfortunately, part of the game, of going through it, and the resiliency that he showed in that moment of going from being DFA’d to starting in the All-Star Game, that’s what Pittsburgh is all about, is that toughness and that grit. Really excited to add him to the organization.”
Defensively, O’Hearn has played primarily at first base (385 games) and DH (185) but has split time between right field (101) and left (20). Cherington left open the possibility that the 6-foot-2, 220-pound O’Hearn could see time at first base — where his six outs above average in 75 games ranked fourth among players at the position last season — and corner outfield spots, as well rotating in at DH.
But this was clearly a bat-first move by the Pirates, who couldn’t contain their excitement when O’Hearn shared his obsession with baseball, promised to play hard “and do whatever I can to help win a ball game every day.” He admits that his belief in himself might have been “little bit irrational at the time,” but wouldn’t have happened without his belief.
“Believing in myself is something that I was always good at. The same could be said for the team,” O’Hearn said. “For this team to go to the playoffs, we’ve got to believe that we can do it. That’s something that I’m going to be talking about from the minute we get to spring training: ‘Hey, we’re going to win. We’re going to go to the playoffs.’ Because if you don’t believe it, then nobody else will.”
