10 players who explain Pirates' first half

This story was excerpted from Alex Stumpf’s Pirates Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

PITTSBURGH -- The first half of the Pirates’ season is in the books. The Bucs entered the year with high expectations, and while they are still looking for consistency, they have produced some stellar performances as a team and individually.

As we look ahead to the second half, let's take a moment to recognize 10 players from the first three months.

Most improved: 2B Nick Gonzales
Last year did not go as Gonzales had hoped, which is why he sought out some tough-love advice from the team. It worked. Gonzales made a series of mechanical changes, and it has translated to five home runs, 27 RBIs and a .750 OPS in 45 games this season. After a rough rookie campaign, he’s looked like the type of hitter the Pirates hoped he would be when they selected him in the first round of the 2020 Draft.

• Behind the convo that spurred Gonzales' big season

Biggest surprise (good): LHP Bailey Falter
Raise your hand if you had Falter breaking out after a pretty dismal Spring Training. (You don’t actually have to put your hand up; I can’t see you anyway.) Falter’s 3.87 ERA is slightly inflated due to a few outings, but seven quality starts and 1.8 bWAR certainly gets the job done.

Biggest surprise (bad): OF Jack Suwinski
There are more than a couple of Pirates hitters who have not lived up to expectations. But expectations were high for Suwinski, who hit 26 homers and had a 115 OPS+ last season. He’s gone from being worth 2.2 WAR in 2023 to -1.8 WAR in '24, according to Baseball Reference. Perhaps his big game on Tuesday -- he went 3-for-3 with a three-run homer -- could jump-start his season.

Most likely to improve: OF Andrew McCutchen
McCutchen's stats are good (12 homers and a 109 OPS+ in 71 games), but his expected stats have been so much better. He’s slugging .401, but going off of his exit velocities and quality of contact, his expected slugging percentage is .484. That’s on top of the great skills he has as a hitter, such as his elite eye at the plate. He has had some bad batted-ball luck. If he keeps having at-bats like this, those hits will start to fall in.

Best reliever: RHP Colin Holderman
There’s a strong case to be made for Luis Ortiz, who has served more as a starter lately. But Holderman has certainly lived up to the first part of his surname. He started the season on the 15-day injured list after catching the flu late in Spring Training, which caused him to lose almost 20 pounds. That brief loss of strength led to him leaning on his sweeper more, which ended up being a great decision. He’s pitched to a 1.21 ERA with 33 strikeouts in 29 2/3 innings over 31 appearances.

• Holderman learned his best pitch from a stranger

Best rookie: RHP Paul Skenes
Do you really need an explanation? It’s Paul Skenes. If you’ve watched one Pirates game this year, it’s probably been one of his starts. Skenes was billed as a generational talent, and all he’s done is post a 2.06 ERA with 70 strikeouts in 52 1/3 innings over his first nine starts.

• The case for Paul Skenes to start All-Star Game

Best stat: Jared Jones' debut
Jones has impressed all year, starting in Spring Training, when he forced the Pirates’ hand to add him to their Opening Day roster. That faith paid immediate dividends after Jones got 22 whiffs in his Major League debut on March 30, the most by any pitcher in their first start in the pitch tracking era (since 2008).

Play that broke Statcast: Oneil Cruz's home run
Cruz has elite bat speed and can produce otherworldly exit velocities. On May 21, he became the first player to hit two batted balls each with an exit velocity over 120 mph in the same game. But his best batted ball was a Statcast-projected 462-foot blast that had a 117.7 mph exit velocity on June 6.

Cy Young: RHP Mitch Keller
There’s a case to be made for Skenes or Jones, but Keller has been consistent in both the quality and quantity of innings he’s delivered. He’s recorded a 3.48 ERA, won nine games and shown why the Pirates extended his contract and made him the leader of a young rotation. His first half was every bit as good as the first half of his All-Star campaign last year.

MVP: OF Bryan Reynolds
Reynolds was doing above average for the first two months of the season, but he broke out in June, rattling off a 25-game hitting streak, the longest in the Majors this season. That propelled him to an .798 OPS, and his 19 doubles are second most among National League outfielders. Pittsburgh needs a consistent offensive catalyst, and Reynolds has stepped up.