Beat Writers Have Pirates’ 2025 Season Covered

Pittsburgh Pirates fans will be well-informed this season, thanks to a special group of writers.

Major League Baseball fans, Pirates’ supporters included, have what seems to be an infinite number of choices for their news on the game. A select few sites and writers are locked on the pulse of what is really progressing within a club.

Beat writers are a rare breed in the newspaper and online websites. They are in the clubhouse daily, multiple times, with direct access to players, coaches, managers, and a slew of other team employees. In some instances, other sites centering on a team’s happenings count on the information gathered by the beat writers to confirm or deny what news may come their way.

Beat writers book their flights for when the club is on the road. Making their hotel reservations and car rental selections, all the while needing to stay on top of a club’s play. What fans could read online or in newspapers, or for that matter, hear on their local all-sports radio station, the beat writers can be thanked for “breaking news”.

The Pirates have a group of beat writers that, for most, have just wrapped up a six-week tour in Bradenton. What they say in sentences is fact; good as gold. Credibility is everything to them and their employers. Integrity is not negotiable.

The go-to names in Pirates coverage are as professional as they come. The camaraderie displayed amongst them collectively is commendable. From MLB.com there is Alex Stumpf. Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Greg Macafee and Jose Negron represent DK Pittsburgh Sports.com, and Noah Hiles and Jason Mackey are on the beat for The Pittsburgh Post-Gazzette.

During spring training, it was routine that the group of writers, first at Pirate City for two weeks, would pull into the parking lot beginning at 7:30 a.m. After plugging in their devices in a dedicated media work room, at 8:00 a.m., the beat writers are in the Pirates’ clubhouse.

On most days, with an hour to select who they wanted to speak with for a story or just to gather a quote or two about an unfolding situation, pens are scribbling on pads, and recording devices are fired up. There is no noticeable competition between them—quite the opposite. There is a professional and personal bond on display between them.

After the clubhouse closes to the media, the beat writers make their way back to their work room and start forming their stories. When practice is over, there is a daily conversation with Pittsburgh’s manager Derek Shelton. On most days, Shelton can give updates on injuries and roster moves. The Pirates are always forthcoming with news.

When not hitting keys on their computers, it isn’t uncommon for the beat writers to hop on Pittsburgh sports radio KDKA FM 93.7 The Fan. Updates on the club for Pirates’ fans back home in Western Pennsylvania is a luxury because of the beat writers having “boots on the ground”.

Often, when there are group settings designed for reporters to speak with a specific player or medical personnel or an announcement is to come from either Shelton or club general manager Ben Cherington, one of the writers will transcribe the conversation for his colleagues to use.

When spring training shifts gears to LECOM Park and Grapefruit League games begin, beat writers unplug their gear and begin their mornings at 7:30 a.m. so that when access to the Pirates’ clubhouse opens at 8:00 a.m., they are ready to go to work.

With the exception of a couple days off during the Pirates’ time based in Bradenton, the life of beat writers is summed up simply – work, sleep, work, for a six-week stretch. Time around the club and at the ballpark grows exponentially. Once games are underway, when pitchers are taken out after throwing their designated pitch count, it’s the beat writers who make their way either from the press box or media workroom to the clubhouse. They obtain fresh comments on how the outing went from the man who tossed the ball.

After the game, media members are granted additional access to the Pirates’ clubhouse, where they scramble for updates on what happened in the games. Then, it’s back to hustling to make their deadlines.

There were birthdays celebrated by the beat writers while in Bradenton; one writer was ill for a couple days and still managed to bang out his stories. Pads, pens, phones, the beat writers keep “their eye on the ball”, from spring training to the final regular season (or beyond) game is completed.

This past Monday, as the Pirates were loading two buses for their final spring game, an afternoon meeting in Fort Myers with the Minnesota Twins, the clubhouse was also quite busy. It was moving day. Three trucks located behind the buses were designated to return all the equipment sent south in February back to Pittsburgh. At 8:00 a.m., aside from less than a handful of players mulling around who weren’t scheduled to make the trip to Fort Myers, the Pirates’ clubhouse looked like a burglary scene. Locker stalls emptied. Chairs assigned to each stall rounded up into the middle of the clubhouse.

But the beat writers were on the job one last time in Bradenton this spring before making the drive down I-75 South to Hammond Stadium. They were hunting for stories and looking for attractive angles to write about.

Now, in Miami for the opening road trip with the Marlins, it will be 162 games before their work hours taper down regularly. There is no complaining among the group. Covering the Pirates is what they signed up for. This is what they are educated to perform. Beyond box scores provided, stories of game happenings, and individual performances, if it’s happening in the Pirates’ universe, the beat writers have it covered.