For Pittsburgh Pirates, 2026 was playoffs or bust. Then the season started | Opinion

The club enters play Wednesday with wins in its last five games. It's already earned its most wins (80) since 2018 and could plausibly reach its fourth-best win total since 1992 if it can win three games by Sept. 27.

Most franchises would be embarrassed to trumpet stats like that. Turn on a Pirates broadcast between now and the end of the season, though, and you'll find boundless enthusiasm about the year that was and the direction of the franchise that last changed baseball operations leadership nearly seven years ago.

That's the Pirates' pre- and post-game flagship radio show host previewing the petroleum-based glow that the front office will welcome its fans into the embrace of in the weeks to come.