MLB Hall Of Famer Reveals Early Pirates Playoff Prediction originally appeared on SportsNet Pittsburgh. Add SportsNet Pittsburgh as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
After 10 straight years of missing the playoffs, the Pittsburgh Pirates are finally legitimate postseason contenders again in 2026. A quarter of the way through their schedule, they're 22-19.
They're on pace for 87 wins, which would be their most since 2015. They also have a 58.2 percent chance of reaching the postseason, according to FanGraphs' playoff odds.
On Monday, MLB Hall of Fame pitcher John Smoltz weighed in on the Pirates' hot start and their postseason aspirations.
"I have been pushing that bandwagon for three years now," Smoltz said Monday on VSiN. "This is a franchise that should be in the playoffs. They have everything you just said. They would be the scariest team in the playoffs."
Smoltz also called Paul Skenes a "generational pitcher" and believes he has enough talent around him to help Pittsburgh make the playoffs, even in a crowded NL Central.
"When you have that staff and that young core, now is the time," Smoltz said.
He thinks the fate of the Pirates' season may be decided at the trade deadline. After years of selling, will Ben Cherington be able to add impact talent at the deadline and improve the roster for the stretch run?
Cherington did it before in Boston, acquiring former NL Cy Young winner Jake Peavy to help fuel the Red Sox's 2013 World Series run. He also did it last winter for Pittsburgh, so time will tell if he's able to replicate that success in a few months.
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