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That seemed to be the original plan last year after signing O’Hearn, but they saw a chance to further improve the offense by signing a pure DH in Marcell Ozuna and turning O’Hearn into more of an outfielder. Of course, that proved to be a total disaster when Ozuna didn’t hit at all. O’Hearn will probably DH the majority of the time next year and play some first base when Spencer Horwitz is out of the lineup. The Pirates will seek to add outfield help, though if they splurge to keep Brandon Lowe, they might be more inclined to stick with their current group.

With the Brewers starting left-hander Kyle Harrison, O’Hearn will take a seat on the bench, and Rafael Flores will play first base while Henry Davis will catch and bat ninth. Brandon Lowe is in the lineup at second base, but he has moved down to fifth against the lefty.

It was the lone hit for O’Hearn in his first start after coming off the injured list Friday. It’s possible he’ll sit Sunday with the Cubs starting lefty Matthew Boyd.

Pittsburgh’s lineup is back to full strength as they try to keep pace with the NL Wild Card leaders. O’Hearn can be plugged back in to the lineup in daily transaction leagues and seems like he’ll be safe to use in the final few weeks of the season.

O’Hearn played seven innings at first base during his rehab debut. The 33-year-old figures to make it back to Pittsburgh by the conclusion of the week. He’s been out with a quad strain since early August.

O’Hearn has been on the shelf with a quad strain since early August. The 33-year-old remains a decent power source, especially in deeper mixed leagues, and is worthy of a pickup in any fantasy leagues where he may have hit the waiver wire. He’s blasted 17 homers to go along with 69 RBI across 398 plate appearances in his Pirates debut this season.

O’Hearn is expected to miss 6-8 weeks, according to the team. The 33-year-old suffered the injury during Friday’s loss to the Reds while running to first base in the ninth inning. It’s a massive hit for the Pirates as they’ll be without one of their key middle-of-the-order run producers until at least mid-September. The encouraging news here is that there’s a chance O’Hearn is back for the home stretch, and a potential postseason run.

Pirates’ skipper Don Kelly told reporters after the game that he was concerned and that it “didn’t look good”. O’Hearn is heading for additional evaluation to the determine the extent of what looked to be a quad issue. The Pirates should have an update on his status prior to Saturday’s contest.

O’Hearn’s grand slam came on his 33rd birthday, one of three homers the Pirates hit off Jameson Taillon on the day. The lefty slugger has now tied his career-high in homers with 17, and his 68 RBI are a personal best too. O’Hearn is a similar hitter to his recent seasons by wRC+, but he’s benefitting from regular playing time on the second-highest-scoring offense in MLB.

It’s the eighth three-homer game this year and first by a Pirate since Liover Peguero, of all people, had one at Coors Field last August. The last Pirate to hit three homers at PNC Park wasn’t any more famous; Michael Pérez did that in 2022. O’Hearn is the first Pirate ever to drive in 10 runs in a game. Johnny Rizzo held the team record with nine in a game in 1939. Jason Bay drove in eight for the team twice, and Andrew McCutchen did it once. It’s the second 10-RBI game of the decade, joining Shohei Ohtani’s 6-for-6, three-homer masterpiece on Sept. 19, 2024. O’Hearn is suddenly ninth in the majors with 61 RBI, even though he spent two weeks on the IL in May.

O’Hearn knocked a base hit and scored a run in the second inning. He then took Brady Singer deep for a solo homer in the fifth. Following a rain delay in the eighth, O’Hearn extended the Pittsburgh lead with a three-run blast off Pierce Johnson. The 32-year-old slugger is up to 13 homers and 50 RBI while slashing .286/.342/.479 across 284 plate appearances.

O’Hearn collected a season-high four hits, including three doubles, as Pittsburgh racked up 11 runs on 15 hits to back a stellar performance on the mound from starter Braxton Ashcraft. The 32-year-old veteran ignited a four-run seventh inning to blow the doors off this one by scalding a two-run double down the right-field line. He added another RBI double in the eighth just for good measure. He’s locked-in at the dish right now, hitting .355 (11-for-31) with one homer and nine RBI over his last seven games.

O’Hearn’s double in the first, which knocked in two runs, would have been a homer in 16 ballparks. He also plated two with his home run and with his single in the seventh, besting his previous high RBI total by two. O’Hearn had been pretty quiet since coming off the injured list at the end of May, but going 6-for-10 the last two days has boosted him back up to .290/.351/.475 for the year.

O’Hearn drove in the first run of the game with a single in the first inning. He later added a base hit in the fifth for his second hit of the game. The 32-year-old slugger is having an excellent season with the Pirates, slashing .282/.350/.460 with 10 homers, 31 runs scored, and 35 RBI across 226 plate appearances.

O’Hearn will get a breather with left-hander Justin Wrobleski toeing the slab for the opposition. Esmerlyn Valdez will start in his place in right field and will bat sixth for the Pirates on Thursday night at PNC Park.

O’Hearn got the scoring started in the ballgame with a two-out, RBI single off of Kei-Wei Teng in the top half of the first inning. He then ambushed a first-pitch fastball for a 349-foot (94.0 mph EV) two-run shot off of Teng during a four-run uprising in the sixth inning. The 32-year-old slugger hasn’t missed a beat since returning from the injured list and is now slashing a robust .295/.371/.486 with nine long balls and 33 RBI on the season.

O’Hearn has gone 3-for-8 with one homer in a pair of games since returning from the injured list earlier this week. The 32-year-old takes a seat despite the presence of righty Spencer Arrighetti on the hill for Houston in this one. It’ll be Marcell Ozuna at DH as he draws his first start since May 27.

O’Hearn was reinstated from the 10-day IL before the game, and he promptly took Zebby Matthews yard in his first at-bat of the afternoon. It was part of a two-hit day for O’Hearn, who raised his OPS to .847. The 32-year-old is having a career year with the Pirates, and the expectation is that he’ll continue hitting in the heart of the order. Pittsburgh travels to face the Astros and Braves this week.

On the day that Konnor Griffin (forearm) heads to the injured list, the Pirates offense gets reinforcements with O’Hearn returning from his stay there. O’Hearn had been shelved since May 16 due to a right quad strain. He returns to a solid .289/.368/.459 slash line with seven homers and 29 RBI over his first 182 plate appearances with the Bucs.

O’Hearn will return to Pittsburgh’s lineup following a minimum stay on the injured list recovering from a right quad strain. The 32-year-old has hit .289/.368/.459 with seven homers, 29 RBI and one steal in 182 plate appearances over 44 games in his Pirates debut this season.