North Shore Nine

2026 has been the fourth year that North Shore Nine has made a trip to see the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Spring Training and the third trip I personally have been on. Many things remain constant on these trips; the bickering over where to go to lunch, wandering the ballpark as games crawl to an end, and being up close and personal to players and coaches for our favorite team. These were all present this time around, but this trip for me has had something that none of the previous springs in Bradenton has had. A thing that the Pirates have not had in almost a decade going into the season—good vibes.

Going to LECOM Park this year was almost a complete 180 in terms of atmosphere from not only the fans but also people surrounding the club. Last year’s spring training had the vibes of a morgue, where there was very little excitement surrounding the Pirates going into the season. The reasons why were not hard to surmise: besides Paul Skenes, there was very little to be excited about. The air seemed to resemble the knowledge that the team assembled simply was not good enough to accomplish anything of note and those feelings were felt from the people sitting in the seats to the players and coaches themselves. In interviews they would say how confident the clubhouse was that this was the year, but it never felt like there was genuine excitement to get the season underway.

The mood could not be more different when you get to the park in the morning before a game. The most notable difference was that every single high-ranking Pirates official was present in LECOM and chatting everyone up. Don Kelly is going around giving fist bumps; Ben Cherington is present and making the rounds. Possibly the most surprising thing was seeing both Bob Nutting and Travis Williams multiple times on both days we were at the park. These guys were nowhere to be seen in previous years, almost an admission that what they did to fix the team was not good enough. This was the first time the shift in mood around the team at camp hit me, as Cherington, Williams, and Nutting are all very famous for trying to stay out of the spotlight as bad results kept piling up. Their presence alone to me signals that there is a real excitement and fire about the 2026 Pirates. While it is something small, I think it speaks volumes to how confident people on the inside are about this team. I consider myself to be a fairly jaded person about sports, and this is making me want to run through a brick wall.

The players also seem to have caught this infectious bug of positivity. Not only was their on-the-field play much more exciting to watch, but there was a much better sense of camaraderie and happiness. It was a common occurrence to see players joking with each other while batting practice went on. Often you could witness younger players gravitating towards the impact veterans we acquired in the offseason like Ozuna, O’Hearn, and Mangum. There were families of the players everywhere, kids playing with their parents after their appearance in the game. My personal favorite was watching pitchers on the backfields taking inspiration from Paul Skenes’ warm-up rituals and running football routes together. Baseball is a much easier game to play when the team is able to relax and have fun while pushing towards the grind of a full MLB season. All of these things alone are enough to put a smile on your face and made the entire experience at LECOM this year immensely enjoyable. This trend will hopefully translate to on-field success when the games matter, because the Pirates have been playing excellent ball during their stint here in Bradenton.

The Pirates generally do not do many things right; however, they have absolutely nailed spring training from a pure spectator perspective. Usually, I am checked out of a game by the 5th inning, and all the players you know have already left for the showers. I liked watching this team enough to sprint up the stairs to make sure I did not miss Esmerlyn Valdez’s at-bat in the 8th inning of a blowout. The winning games part is always nice, and the Pirates have won a ton of games this spring. However, Spring Training is mostly about watching the future of your team and players you have excitement over that can affect the Major League roster. The Pirates have excelled on both fronts, which I cannot believe are words I am typing.

The prospects have been exciting, obviously highlighted by the number one prospect in baseball, Konnor Griffin. The whole stadium sits up in their seats when he comes to the plate, and he doesn’t disappoint with his combined power and speed. Griffin is not the only exciting part of spring training, though. The new MLB talent in camps has made many people excited. Jake Mangum has found his way into the hearts of fans with his small ball, Ryan O’Hearn looks great and continues to hit and Brandon Lowe has quietly put together a great spring as well. The plethora of prospects has also kept games interesting well past the 4th or 5th innings. Jhostynxon Garcia is destroying the baseball; Esmerlyn Valdez has been awesome, and the young arms have continued to look extremely good with each passing day. This is how you sell a fan base on your project, and it is a shame it has taken seven years to reach these highs. If you as a fan have been locked into these games, it is hard not to feel like something good is going to come out of this group of players, and that is what spring training should be doing to us every year.

The preseason can be fool’s gold in any sport, and there is absolutely no guarantee any of this leads to a great season ahead. What I do know is that a team has not generated this much excitement since 2018, so I choose to let the good vibes roll and pray this will finally be the year that we get to celebrate Buctober once again.