This Must Happen for the Pirates to Make the Playoffs

Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Ben Cherington made his offseason moves last winter to have the 2026 Pirates contend for a playoff spot.

For the first half of the season, the Pirates did just that, and even looked like one of the most complete teams in baseball heading into the All-Star break.

However, after going 13-21 since the Midsummer Classic, Pittsburgh's postseason hopes are quickly fading. Still, the team's GM believes there's still a path to October.

"The bottom line is right now, to make a push for the postseason is gonna require a real hot streak," Cherington said on an appearance on 93.7 The Fan.

"That's just a fact at this point. Like, we're gonna need, any team in our position would have to go on a real hot streak at some point."

With the Pirates being 8.5 games out of the final Wild Card spot, Cherington is correct; the team needs a prolonged stretch of wins to get themselves back in the playoff race, and will likely need some more help, too.

May 26, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Ben Cherington observes batting practice before the Pirates play the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

The good news, from Cherington's point of view, is that he still believes that's in the cards for this team.

"I don't think we've really had a real hot streak, really, all year. 
We've had stretches where we play better. We've had weeks and months, we've played better, and then other stretches we haven't played as well, but we haven't had that, you know, rip off 8 to 9 [wins] type of thing yet that most teams, even not great teams, have streaks like that."

Can the Pirates go on a hot streak? Sure, anything is possible.

Is it likely that Pittsburgh rattles off eight or nine straight wins with just over 30 games left in the regular season? That's where it might get complicated for the Pirates.

Pittsburgh is in the middle of a difficult road trip and has already been swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers before facing the San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals.

The Pirates also still have series against the Chicago White Sox, Chicago Cubs, and Milwaukee Brewers (all teams currently in a playoff spot) in the final month of the regular season.

Sweeping consecutive series is simply much easier said than done based on the schedule.

Something the Pirates do have going for them is that they play five of their nine series in September at PNC Park, where they have a winning record this year.

Cherington clearly still believes this team can break Pittsburgh's over-decade-long postseason drought, but it needs to start winning right now.