Every player in every season started every category at the exact same number; 0. Some of those players had a season so magical it put them at the top of a single season list in a given statistic. Those extra special seasons still stand as the single season record. Below is a list of some of baseball’s most notable single season records and the player on your Pittsburgh Pirates roster that would be most likely to surpass that milestone. Just to be clear, I’m not saying this will happen, but if it did, these would be the guys to do it.
73 Home Runs, 2001, Barry Bonds: Let’s get the big kahuna out of the way. This is the most popular single season record there is. This is a mammoth number. Only two Pirates currently on the roster (Lowe, Ozuna) have even surpassed half the number of HRs Barry hit in 2001. And neither of those two are the guys that I would pick to beat this record. The only guy I think that can theoretically surpass this record is Oneil Cruz. He looks notably more beefy than he did last year. He’s had a good spring. He hits the ball harder than anyone in the league. He just needs to hit it more often.
513 Strikeouts, 1886, Matt Kilroy: I think we all remember how Matt Kilroy dealt that year. They may have even amputated his arm in 1887. In 1973 Nolan Ryan struck out 383 batters and that’s seen as the modern era record. So why don’t we use that. There’s no secret who would be the Pirate to break this record; Paul Skenes. The Pirates would have to be mavericks and disregard every single measure in place to protect a player’s arm in order for this to happen. Pitchers nowadays have to be ultra efficient to even approach the numbers of past years. If anyone can do it, it would be the best pitcher on the planet.
138 Stolen Bases, 1887, Hugh Nicol: Man, take me back to the 1880s. They were balling out. Rickey Henderson got close with 130 swiped bags almost one hundred years after Hugh Nicol. With the rule changes placed on pitchers now, this record should be more in play than in years past. Even so, last season's MLB leader only got 49. Making his second appearance in this blog, the Pirate who could beat this record is Oneil Cruz. I’m sure we’d rather he be jogging the bases, but when he’s on base, he’s a threat to swipe both second and third. He just needs to be on more.
.426 Batting Average, 1901, Nap Lajoie: Let’s relegate this one to just hitting .400. Teddy Ballgame was the last to do it. Tony Gwynn almost did it in 1994, albeit a strike shortened season. Ichiro hit .372 in 04. This, like all MLB records, is a tough mountain to climb. But especially for the Pirates. Even .300 has been a tough ask. So I’m going to pivot and say if anyone is hitting .400 on the Pirates, he’s not on the major league roster, but soon will be. Konnor Griffin I think has the best chance on the team to be a .400 hitter. Let’s say he gets called up May/Junish, goes on a tear, and gets enough ABs to qualify. It IS outside the realm of possibility, but that’s the only scenario I can imagine where someone clears the .400 mark.
62 Saves, 2008, Francisco Rodriguez: This record is probably the most attainable on this list. The Pirates tend to always make things interesting in their wins. Even in their most decrepit years, they had relievers in the top ten and sometimes the top five of the save category. Dennis Santana is the clear choice here. If the Pirates are as good as they can be, and they keep games close like they tend to do, and Santana seizes the opportunity, you never know. Probably not, but you never know.
120 Intentional Walks, 2004, Barry Bonds: I’m not even entertaining this one.
56 Game Hitting Streak, 1941, Joe DiMaggio: If we are talking in the past 100 years, Pete Rose is the only one to sniff this one in 1978 when he made it to 44 games. So I’m going to take a flyer here, and nominate not a player but a fan. I, Aaron James Sutch, have the best chance on the Beat the Streak game on the MLB app. Seeing as I can double down, and get a mulligan, I stand the best chance to dethrone Joltin Joe.
Alright, so maybe none of these are realistic. But isn’t the best part before the season begins dreaming up scenarios that will make this season special. Even if they weren’t record breaking performances, I remember Jack Wilson’s great 2004 campaign. Or in 2006 when Jason Bay took over the month of May and homered in 6 straight games and a total of 10 HRs in 10 games. Josh Bell’s mammoth first half of 2019 was something to behold. Maybe we won’t get a record breaking performance, but I’m willing to bet we get something special worth remembering in 2026.
