Opening Day arrives for the Pirates with renewed optimism that this season will be different.
After a 14-game improvement from 2022 to 2023, the Bucs are hoping to take another step forward in ’24, with a checklist that includes finishing above .500 for the first time since 2018 and perhaps even qualifying for the playoffs for the first time since 2015. Righthander Mitch Keller takes the mound today for the season opener against the Marlins’ lefthander Jesús Luzardo.
On Indiana In the Morning on WCCS earlier this spring, Pirates broadcaster Greg Brown said that Pirates fans might be seeing more baseballs flying out of PNC Park this year, with the return of Oneil Cruz, and new first baseman Rowdy Tellez added to Jack Suwinski, Ke’Bryan Hayes, and Brian Reynolds.
Brown is excited that the Pirates are finding budding young stars and following the same blueprint as Tampa Bay and Baltimore have used, hoping for the same spectacular results, like Baltimore’s 101-win season last year.
This is the 8th straight year the Pirates will be starting the season on the road. After beating the Reds last year, they are trying for their first back-to-back Opening Day wins since they won five in a row from 2007 to 2011.
Andrew McCutchen enters the season one shy of 300 home runs in his career. His 12th and final home run last season came on August 12th off the Cardinals’ Adam Wainwright.
The pregame from Miami begins at 3:45 on WCCS with first pitch scheduled for 4:10.
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