Pirates Have One Half of the Equation Figured Out, Now Comes the Hard Part
As bad as things have gone for the Pittsburgh Pirates this season, there’s no denying they’ve built an impressive arsenal of young arms.
Paul Skenes is the favorite to win the National League Cy Young one year after winning Rookie of the Year and two years after he was selected with the top pick in the MLB Draft. After throwing six-strong innings against the Boston Red Sox on Friday night, Skenes is 9-9 with an MLB-best 2.05 ERA through 28 starts this season.
But Skenes is not the lone young pitcher who has shown promise in Pittsburgh this year.
Mike Burrows made his MLB debut at the end of last season. After starting the year in Triple-A Indianapolis, Burrows was recalled by the Pirates on May 21. He’s totaled 17 appearances/16 starts and has a 4.23 ERA with 78 strikeouts in 76.2 innings.
Five days after Burrows was recalled, the Pirates promoted right-hander Braxton Ashcraft, who joined the team in a bulk reliever role but has started in each of his last four appearances. He has 2.58 ERA through 21 appearances to begin his big-league career, including a sparkling 1.23 mark in five starts.
Then of course, there’s Bubba Chandler, the top pitching prospect in baseball who made his debut during the Pirates’ last homestand. All he’s done in his first two big-league appearances? Eight scoreless innings with one save and one win. Not too shabby.
“Some really good stuff,” Ashcraft said of the Pirates’ young pitching core. “It’s exciting to come in every day and work with each other and pick each other’s brains. Just become better baseball players.”
The young pitchers have grown through the system together. They all spent time at Triple-A last season and now are a major part of the Pirates’ future.
But with the quartet of players now all suiting up for Pittsburgh at the same time, the future is becoming the present .
“We’re growing together,” said Skenes. “That’s been the opportunity all year, to find ourselves and find our identity as a team, as a staff and continue to grow. I think we’ve done a good job of that this year.”
As the pitchers have gotten more and more opportunities with the Pirates, the team’s performance has improved. Dating back to May 27, when Skenes, Burrows and Ashcraft were all part of the Pirates pitching staff, Pittsburgh has a 41-40 record.
The abysmal start to the season that led the Pirates to making a change at manager makes the relatively solid stretch of play over the last three months moot, but it’s encouraging to see the impact the lively youthful core of pitchers has had.
“I’m super happy with where we are as a staff right now, as a team right now,” Skenes said. “We just gotta keep going.”
Pirates fans are undoubtedly tired of constantly hearing about a future that never seems to become the present. But with Skenes, Ashcraft, Burrows and Chandler – not to mention more elder statesmen like Mitch Keller and Johan Oviedo, as well as the currently injured Jared Jones – the supposed “future” is a little more believable.
“To be able to trust that what we all want is what’s absolutely best for each other and that makes for a winning culture, a culture that you just are excited to get to the field and be a part of,” said Ashcraft. “So looking forward to, not just 2026, but the years to come. I think that we’re going to be in a really good spot.”
But… It will only matter if the Pirates can solve their offensive woes, a task that has been impossible for the front office and coaching staff.
The Pirates’ track record of developing pitching has been strong. Their track record of developing hitters has been anything but. Konnor Griffin will help eventually, but that probably won’t happen until midseason in 2025 at the very earliest.
The Pirates cannot wait for Griffin to arrive and hope he solves anything. Even if he reaches the potential so many see in him, one player can’t suddenly make a lackluster offense respectable.
It will take a serious commitment this offseason. Free agency will be tricky, given that owner Bob Nutting will need to approve spending meaningful dollars to land an impact bat, something that’s never been done. In addition to that hurdle, free agents will have to want to come play for the Pirates, and all things being equal, why would any player choose to?
A trade might be the Pirates’ best chance to land a bat, or two, or three. But in order to add offense, they will probably have to subtract pitching, whether it be Keller and his contract or one of the aforementioned rookie pitchers.
But without offense, the window the pitching core has opened will eventually be shut without having anything to show for.
The Pirates can’t fail to capitalize on this opportunity.
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