The Pittsburgh Pirates are closing the curtain on their 2023 season this weekend.

And a strange year it has been.

The Bucs’ 20-8 start in April had Pirate fever gripping the city. A dreadful swoon followed that sank the team well below .500 and turned most fans’ interest back toward the Steelers.

Then the Pirates played above .500 baseball over the final two months-plus.

Oneil Cruz, one of their top three players, was lost for the season when he broke his ankle a few ga,es in. Roansy Contreras and Luis Ortiz fell well short of expectations as starting pitchers and spent much of the year in the minor leagues. Vince Velasquez was off to a solid start in the rotation before he succumbed to season-ending surgery in May.

Despite all of that, the team’s won-loss record enjoyed a big jump from last year.

The Pirates used 31 different players in the lead-off spot of the batting order this year. Translation: They need a lead-off hitter.

Once they traded Carlos Santana, the Bucs played a number of different guys at first base. Translation: They need a first baseman.

A healthy Cruz could settle in as that lead-off guy. Santana has expressed interest in returning to Pittsburgh as a free agent, but should the team look to develop someone younger? Alfonso Rivas, who showed occasional promise since coming from San Diego in a trade, comes to mind.

The Pirates closed the season with Mitch Keller and Johan Oviedo — both providing impressive starts more often than not — as the only two fixtures in the rotation. Down the stretch, the team primarily went with “openers” in the other games. Clearly, you can’t do that for an entire season or your bullpen arms will be falling off by July.

The team does have some solid bullpen pieces, led, of course, by Mars graduate David Bednar, who developed into one of baseball’s best closers in 2023.

Hopefully, Velasquez will be re-siogned and come back healthy. Besides him, the Pirates need to find two or three reliable starters from the likes of Contreras, Ortiz, Andre Jackson, Quinn Priester and Bailey Falter.

Signing a dependable starter through free agency is probably beyond the Pirates’ operating budget, lik it or not.

Should they bring back Andrew McCutchen? Yes. He can still contribute and his veteran presence is still needed.

The team needs to find out if Henry Davis can catch in the major leagues. Right field is not the answer for him. Davis and Endy Rodriguez have to continue adjusting to major league pitching and share the load behind the plate.

Nick Gonzalez, Liover Peguero, Ji Hwan Bae ... who’s going to play second base? And where does Jared Triolo, who’s hitting .299 this year, fit into the equation?

The overall offense has to improve. Only the Yankees, Giants, Tigers and A’s have lower team batting averages than the Bucs’ .239. Only the Rockies, Nationals, Royals and Guardians have hit fewer homers than the Pirates’ 159 this year.

The Pirates have a number of questions to answer.

But the young talent is here — and provides reason to believe brighter skies are ahead for this franchise.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle