The Pirates want to get Reynolds some time at first base this season, and the 1B/OF eligibility will be a welcomed addition for fantasy managers. Reynolds has remained very consistent over the years, hitting at least .260 with 24 home runs in each of the last four seasons. His 1B eligibility will be enticing, as first base isn’t exactly the deepest position in fantasy baseball this season. While Reynolds seems like a safe projection for yet another season of hitting .260+ and 25-ish home runs, it is worth noting that his contact rate has dropped each of the last three seasons, with last year’s 72.9% contact rate being the lowest of his career. I like the lineup around him, and the price point in drafts is fair for his consistency and projectability.

Cruz will have shortstop and outfield eligibility heading into 2025, and he’s coming off a season where hit .259 with 21 home runs and 22 stolen bases across 146 games. That dual-eligibility will be nice for fantasy managers, and while his overall quantity of contact is still not quite as high as we would have liked, the 30.2 percent strikeout isn’t terrible for Cruz, all things considered. Albeit better in 2024, he’s still below average against southpaws, but those numbers are improving. He’s an everyday player for the Pirates in 2025 (and beyond), and he makes so much hard contact that I’m not ruling out a 25/25 campaign for Cruz in 2025. How fitting would that be?

Hayes was limited to just 96 games last season and hit just .233 with four home runs and 11 stolen bases. Availability is the best ability, and Hayes has spent time on the injured list in each season dating back to 2021! Perhaps his back was bothering him for longer than we may know, but he hardly made any hard contact last year, and in terms of power output, he continues to hit too many ground balls (49.3% GB rate for his career). While Hayes is locked into an everyday role, I fear his ceiling isn’t as high as we thought it would be a few years ago, even after the 2023 season when he went 15/10 with a .271 average. He’ll hit around .250 this season, and while I think he can get to 15+ stolen bases, his home run total figures to land in the 8-12 range, if things go well.

Andrew McCutchen is well past his prime at this point entering his age 38 season, but he still managed to be a slightly above-average hitter last season with a 105 wRC+ in 120 games for Pittsburgh. He should continue to find decent playing time with the Pirates, but we are well past seeing fantasy relevant seasons from Andrew McCutchen. He is no longer a batting average booster and a stat line with a home run total in the mid-teens with a few steals just isn’t enough for him to be a real consideration outside of extremely deep leagues.

Things may not have worked out for Bart in San Francisco, but he may have found a home in Pittsburgh. In 80 games with the Pirates last season, he slashed .265/.337/.462 with 13 home runs (two more than he hit with the Giants across four seasons). He posted a quality 9.4 percent barrel rate, but there could be more power potential with Bart if he can trade some of those ground balls (47.5% ground ball rate) for line drives and fly balls. There’s some swing-and-miss in his game, but there’s optimism that he can cut down on his strikeout rate in 2025. Endy Rodriguez likely gets in the mix at some point, but Bart should be the primary catcher for the Pirates in 2025, providing fantasy managers with some pop (12-16 HR) and an okay average for the position (.240ish).

Kiner-Falefa provides fantasy managers with a ton of versatility when setting lineups, as he has eligibility at numerous positions including second base, third base, and shortstop. However, he’s somewhat of a jack-of-all-trades for fantasy purposes, but one could argue he’s not really impactful in any category. His biggest contribution in a category likely comes in terms of stolen bases this year, as he’ll get enough ABs to get into the mid-to-upper teens, and should hit ahead of Bryan Reynolds, Oneil Cruz, etc. I don’t know if he’ll occupy the leadoff spot all year long, as his OBP isn’t what you want at the top of the order. He’s a better player in reality than in fantasy, but if you need the ABs and some cheap speed in NL-only formats, Kiner-Falefa may be able to help you out there.

Gonzales has yet to bring his walk rate from the minors to the major league level, and until that happens, he remains a better asset in leagues that value batting average compared to OBP. He doesn’t boast an overwhelming offensive profile in terms of quality of contact, but he does a pretty good job of getting the bat on the ball (86.6% zone contact rate, 77% contact rate). He hit seven home runs and stole five bases in 94 games last season, and with a near-everyday role on the horizon in 2025, he could find a way to get to the 10/10 club, but that seems like his ceiling for the upcoming season. He’s free in drafts, so he’s worth a flyer in the later rounds of deep setups.

Horwitz popped 12 home runs in 97 games last year with Toronto, slashing .265/.357/.433 in the process. Lefties gave him some fits last year, but he punished right-handed pitching to the tune of an .864 OPS, .199 ISO, and 147 wRC+. Pittsburgh will likely utilize him at first base more often than not, and he’ll operate on the large side of a platoon at the position. He has a good feel for the strike zone, and there’s not a lot of swing and miss in his game, which is a plus for this Pittsburgh offense and fantasy managers who play in leagues that value OBP. Horwitz is likely off the radar in mixed leagues, but in deeper NL-only setups, Horwitz could be a sneaky option when Pittsburgh faces a lot of RHP in a given week.

It didn’t take long for Skenes to take the world by storm, as he posted a 1.96 ERA (2.44 FIP), 33.1 percent strikeout rate, and 0.95 WHIP across 133 IP. Of pitchers with at least 130 IP in 2024, Skenes was the only pitcher in baseball with at least a 50 percent ground ball rate and 30 percent strikeout rate. He handled 150+ IP between the majors and minors last season, so he’s ready for a full workload (180+ IP) in 2025. The upside is immense, and he should get enough run support from the Pittsburgh offense, making him the first or second pitcher off the board in fantasy drafts (depending on what we are counting Shohei Ohtani as). Skenes is an electric, dynamic talent with a repertoire and skillset to dominate all starting pitching categories. He’ll be off the board by the early second round in most drafts (12-teamers) this season.

Keller largely remained the same guy in 2024 as he was in 2023, aside from the fact that his strikeout rate dipped to 21.5 percent, which is well below his 25.5 percent mark in 2023. His fastball velocity dipped a bit, which is noteworthy, and despite generating more swings out of the zone, he did allow more contact. Keller still has some issues with LHH, and a poor second half (5.65 ERA over final 63.2 IP) has knocked some of the shine off Keller heading into 2025, but the fact that he’s being drafted outside of the top 300 on average is crazy! A guy who will likely win 10+ games with an ERA in the low-4s and the potential to get their strikeout rate closer to the mid-twenties should not be going this late in drafts!

Bednar went just 23-for-30 in save opportunities last year, not to mention a 3-8 record, 5.77 ERA (4.80 FIP), and the second-lowest strikeout rate of his career (22.1%). The team is optimistic that he’ll rebound in 2025, but they’ve also stated that he is not guaranteed the job to begin the season. However, if you look at the rest of the bullpen, it’s hard to fathom Bednar not being the leader in the clubhouse for the job. If Bednar can return to his 2021-2023 form, it’s not crazy to think that he reaches 40 saves for the first time in his career, thanks to a three-headed monster in the rotation and an offense that should be able to do enough to put some runs on the board. I love the value, and upside, for Bednar at his current price.

The 2024 season was one to forget for Davis, as he hit just .144 with a 36.9 percent strikeout rate across 37 games. Joey Bart came into the mix and became the primary backstop for the Pirates, and Davis seems destined to begin the year in the minors. To Davis’ credit, he did a good job staying in the strike zone last season, but a 76.3 percent zone contact rate, 67.3 percent contact rate, and 15.1% swinging strike rate simply isn’t going to cut it. The power may be above average when he makes contact, but the quantity of contact has been too few and far between to make Davis a viable fantasy option. Fortunately, he still has eligibility behind the dish, but with Bart and Endy Rodriguez in the mix, this may be his last year having the “C” for fantasy managers. He’s a late round flyer at best, but more likely, a waiver wire option if he starts getting ABs and catches fire.

Jones missed nearly two months due to injury, and upon his return, a 5.87 ERA (4.76 FIP) inflated his numbers for the year to a 4.14 ERA. Prior to the injury, he had a 3.56 ERA (3.75 FIP) across 16 starts! He boasts excellent velocity on his fastball, and a strong whiff rate is amplified by his slider (37.3%) and curveball (32.7%). DFS players likely know that Jones’ home/road splits were pretty gnarly, but health willing, he’s poised for a solid 2025 season where he’ll win 10+ games and strikeout over one batter per inning. I’m not overly concerned about any lingering effects from last year’s injury considering he returned, and velocity remained steady, making him an attractive target outside the top 100 overall.