Pirates Q&A: Flip Pitching for Hitting? Will Bucs Waste Paul Skenes? (+)
The good news is the Pittsburgh Pirates just had their best series of the season. The Pirates swept the New York Mets in dominating fashion over the weekend, outscoring them 30-4.
The bad news is the Pirates are still in the cellar of the National League Central with a 35-50 record.
Let’s tackle your questions.
What’s going on with Paul Skenes? He’s worse than last year. – Bob Clare
It’s true that Skenes’ ERA is not sub-2.00 like it was during his Rookie of the Year campaign. It’s true, too, that his strikeouts are down. It’s also true that Skenes is still one of the best pitchers in baseball.
Skenes is the likely frontrunner in the National League Cy Young race as things currently stand despite a 4-7 record, which is a reflection on the state of the Pirates and not him.
The 23-year-old leads all MLB starting pitchers with a 4.1 bWAR. He leads the National League in ERA (2.12), WHIP (0.906), hits per nine (5.7) and home runs per nine (0.4) through 17 starts to begin the season.
Opponents are slashing a minuscule .177/.240/.275 against him, which is worse than what hitters did against him in his rookie season.
Is he as dominant? Maybe not. Definitely not by strikeouts. But he’s still every bit as good as he was last season, even if he’s doing it in a different fashion.
I really fear that by the times Skenes is able to get out of Pittsburgh they will reduce him to another Hard luck Jose DeLeon worn out by a system that permits a carpetbagger to own a team and ruin careers. Comment? – Charles Lucania
It’s a fair question, and based off precedent and how things have gone this season, it’s certainly possible to envision the Pirates spoiling a golden opportunity with one of the best pitchers in baseball.
The 2025 Pirates were doomed the minute it was settled that the biggest offseason move this winter was re-signing 38-year-old Andrew McCutchen. No disrespect to Cutch, who is having a fine season, but it’s not a secret the offense was bad last year. This year, it’s even worse. That’s what happens when you don’t make upgrades.
If the Pirates continue to operate this way with a penny-pinching strategy and a flurry of one-year deals instead of meaningful additions to the roster, Skenes’ tenure in the Pirates will include zero playoff starts. That would be a real shame.
This is the time to go for it. The Pirates are 35-50, but their window is now. It will remain open as long as Skenes dons the black and gold. But they better go for it now before Skenes gets a significant raise through arbitration. And before he walks in free agency, or gets traded before then.
Is there any chatter from the Bucs of trading some pitching for good bats? We have enough pitchers! – Jim
Yes, there is. Ben Cherington spoke to reporters over the weekend and said that they are feeling the pressure to get better offensively, and yes, that means they could look to bolster the lineup at the trade deadline by trading pitching.
Mitch Keller is a trade candidate. Andrew Heaney is too. Bailey Falter could be. Relievers David Bednar, Dennis Santana and Caleb Ferguson all will be coveted too. Plus there are the prospects.
In returns for any of these guys, the Pirates will be looking for bats. In an ideal world, the Pirates want to get more balanced, meaning they will be hunting left-handed hitting. Keep that in mind.
Cherington has a couple of ideas in mind on how to get better offensively and what they will be looking for. It sounds like he wants to play to PNC Park, so when it comes to potential right-handed hitters, think guys who hit to all fields.
The only question remains is will they lose 100? – Frank Geyer
At their current pace? The Pirates will go 66-96. Woof. Under Don Kelly, the Pirates have gone 23-24, which equates to a 79-83 record over a 162 game season.
Still not great, but the Pirates have looked much, much better under Kelly’s leadership. Because of that, I think they’ll avoid 100 losses, even when they do more selling than buying at the deadline this year.
My prediction? 72-90.
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