The Pittsburgh Pirates have now played 81 games this year. They are at the halfway point and are sitting a game above .500. They’ve gotten there from strong performances from the likes of Paul Skenes, Braxton Ashcraft, Bryan Reynolds, Brandon Lowe, and many others. However, those players performing well aren’t a massive surprise. The Bucs went into 2026 hoping they would play pivotal roles. However, they likely didn’t expect these players to make a sizable impact as well.
The Pirates Didn’t Expect These Players To Become Impact Players in the First Half of 2026
Endy Rodriguez
Endy Rodriguez was once one of the Pirates’ best prospects heading into 2023. However, that luster had long since faded. A constant stream of injuries put Rodriguez on the sidelines for all of 2024 and most of 2025. While he flashed promise at times, he still only had a 59 wRC+ through his first 75 Major League Baseball games. But his performance is now making him arguably the Pirates’ best option behind the dish.
Rodriguez is batting .263/.398/.444 with a .377 wOBA and 139 wRC+ over 94 plate appearances so far this year. He is providing solid pop, with eight extra-base hits, including three homers and five doubles. Although he is striking out about a quarter of the time (24.5% K rate), he is drawing walks at an impressive 18.1% rate. The metrics under the hood are even better.
Rodriguez’s bat speed is up to 72.3 MPH, a significant step forward from 69.9 MPH during his 2023 rookie season. That uptick in bat speed is leading to a 92.9 MPH exit velocity and a 13.2% barrel rate. Rodriguez is showing some excellent plate discipline. His chase percentage comes in at just 22.8%, and he has a respectable 23.1% whiff rate. While the switch-hitter could be more aggressive in the zone, his swinging strike rate is just 8.4%.
His defense behind the plate is not getting rave reviews. He has -3 defensive runs saved and -1.1 framing runs in 182 innings. But he has an elite 1.85-second pop time. His blocking is grading out around average at +1 blocks above average. However, he’s not costing the Pirates with his glove and is more than making up for it with his bat.
Evan Sisk
The Pirates acquired Evan Sisk from the Kansas City Royals as part of the Bailey Falter trade at last year’s trade deadline. Sisk was not a top prospect by any means. The left-hander was a 16th-round pick from 2018, and he debuted in his age-28 season. While he showed some promise over 17.2 innings with the Royals and Pirates, nobody likely expected him to look like a potential high-leverage option by the mid-point of 2026.
Sisk has pitched 35 innings, working to a 1.80 ERA, 2.90 FIP, and 1.14 WHIP. The left-hander has struck out nearly 30% of opponents with a 29.2% K rate, and has a respectable 8.3% BB rate. Sisk has not allowed very many home runs this year, either. His HR/9 ratio comes in at just 0.51 after giving up two long balls.
Sisk is excelling in a handful of areas. He is one of the best pitchers in baseball at limiting hard and quality contact. Both his 85.5 MPH exit velocity and 3.5% barrel rate are above the 90th percentile of qualified pitchers this year. Sisk’s FanGraphs Stuff+ has also taken a step forward this year, from an already-quality 104 mark last year to 106 this year. While he has pedestrian velocity, his release point and seven feet of extension (90th percentile) make it all play up.
Tyler Callihan
Tyler Callihan made his way to Pittsburgh early in Spring Training. The Pirates sent right-handed reliever Kyle Nicolas to the Cincinnati Reds to acquire the utility prospect. Although Callihan hit well at Triple-A in 2025, he suffered a broken forearm while attempting to make a sliding catch in just his fourth MLB game. He also struggled badly in his first look at Indianapolis, posting just a .651 OPS.
It has only been 56 plate appearances, but Callihan has provided a .255/.357/.511 triple-slash. He has struck out 28.6% of the time, but has also drawn a walk in 12.5% of his trips to the dish. Half of Callihan’s dozen hits have been extra-base hits. He has a pair of doubles, triples, and home runs. His CSW% comes in at a solid 25.4% rate as well.
Callihan has provided plenty of utility for the Pirates. He has taken the field at first, second, and third base, along with both left and right field. While Callihan hasn’t looked particularly excellent anywhere with the glove, he also hasn’t looked terrible either. With injuries to multiple key players like Oneil Cruz, Konnor Griffin, and now Spencer Horwitz, having a super utility man who has hit some has kept the Pirates afloat.
Main Photo Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
