Pirates preseason capsule: Paul Skenes leads a potentially stellar rotation

Pittsburgh Pirates

2024 record: 76-86 (5th place, NL Central)

He gone: LHP Aroldis Chapman, OF Bryan De La Cruz, C Yasmani Grandal, 1B Connor Joe.

New faces: 2B Adam Frazier, LHP Andrew Heaney, 1B Spencer Horwitz, RHP Justin Lawrence, OF Tommy Pham.

Biggest question entering Opening Day: Can the Pirates build a team strong enough to support their elite young starting pitching? RHP Paul Skenes may have the best arm in baseball and RHP Jared Jones (132Ks in 121 innings last season) is a budding star. RHP Mitch Keller has developed into a reliable innings eater and RHP David Bednar gives Pittsburgh a capable closer. But given the team's tight budget -- a projected payroll of $88 million -- this roster features a lot of stopgap players.

Top prospect: RHP Bubba Chandler is destined to follow the footsteps of Skenes and Jones into the potentially strong Pirates' starting rotation. Chandler was 10-7 with a 3.08 ERA in 26 games split between the Double-A and Triple-A levels.

Breakout player: 2B Nick Gonzales, drafted seventh overall in 2020, emerged last year to hit .270 in 94 games. This season Gonzales, 25, can establish himself as a valuable everyday player.

2025 outlook: OF Oneil Cruz offers monstrous offensive upside, flashing power (21 homers) and speed (22 stolen bases) in his first full major league season. Now he can focus on his hitting after moving from shortstop. He started slow in spring with four hits in his first 22 at-bats, but three of those were home runs. Cruz, Skenes and Jones create an excellent young nucleus. But until owner Bob Nutting becomes more financially committed to winning, the Pirates will languish as a division also-ran that earns high draft position and stacks up promising prospects.

--Field Level Media