Pirates are aiming to take step forward, but oddsmakers aren't buying in

BY COREY LONG | Home Field Sports

After consecutive 100-loss seasons for the Pittsburgh Pirates, general manager Ben Cherington believes it’s time for his team to take a step forward in 2023 and become a more competitive unit.

“It’s time to start getting better,” Cherington said during an appearance on the MLB Network earlier in March. “We plan to get better because our young players will continue to emerge and take steps forward.”

“We believe that can and will happen, both with guys who touched the big leagues last year and with some who haven’t yet touched the big leagues yet but are getting closer and getting to the upper levels.”

While Cherington believes the Pirates are improving, oddsmakers are not buying in yet. Pittsburgh is +25000 to win the World Series in 2023 and +12000 to win the National League at FanDuel Sportsbook. The Pirates are +1200 just to make the playoffs; only the Detroit Tigers (+1200), Cincinnati Reds (+1800), Washington Nationals (+2500), Colorado Rockies (+2500) and Oakland Athletics (+2500) have longer odds of just clinching a playoff spot.

The St. Louis Cardinals are the betting favorites within the NL Central to win the division at -125. The Pirates are +3000 to win the division and +900 to finish second. Pittsburgh has its most favorable odds to finish third (+340), fourth (+155) or fifth (+175) in the NL Central.

Still, Cherington believes the Pirates are on the upswing. Young players like shortstop Oneil Cruz are building blocks for the future, and Pittsburgh brought in some intriguing free agents like first baseman Ji-Man Choi, veteran switch-hitting slugger Carlos Santana and right-hander Vince Velasquez.

And to connect the future of the Pirates with its last era of success, Cherington also signed outfielder Andrew McCutchen, a former first-round draft pick (11th overall) by the Pirates in the 2005 MLB Draft. McCutchen, a five-star All-Star, spent his first nine seasons with the Pirates and won the NL MVP Award in 2013.

McCutchen, 36, says he isn’t coming back as a nostalgia act, but because he believes the Pirates are building a roster similar to the one that made the playoffs from 2013-2015. He adds that the Pirates kept his 2022 team, the Milwaukee Brewers, out of the playoffs for the first time in the past six seasons. Pittsburgh won 11 of 19 games against Milwaukee last year.

“I was on a good team (last year), McCutchen said. “Poised to make it to the playoffs. Poised to win the division, That didn’t pan out, and part of the reason it didn’t is because we didn’t beat (Pittsburgh). Couldn’t beat ’em. I honestly believe it. It’s a good ball club. If they weren’t good, they wouldn’t beat us.”

Cherington trusts that McCutchen might see something on the roster that could unexpectedly come to fruition this year.

“I know he believes that,” Cherington said. “Players sometimes are closer to the truth than any of us. They’re on the field, they feel things and see things happening on the field level that are hard for us to see sometimes.”

But Cherington has no time for those that don’t believe in his plan for the Pirates or feel like they are ready to move into a more competitive phase of the rebuild. The over/under for wins in Pittsburgh this year sits at 68.5 with -115 odds on the under and -105 odds on the over.

“If we continue to make good decisions and continue to help our players get better and put them in good spots to succeed, we can make a move,” Cherington said. “We’ve got to do the work. We can’t take anything for granted. We’re excited to take on the challenge.”

“We want to compete for every pitch, every spot on the team. Be prepared to compete and expect to be in a position to win every night. We have a lot of ground to cover, but we’re excited to start covering it.”

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