The Pirates Have a Generational Starting Pitcher… and Are on Pace for One of Their Worst Seasons Ever

PITTSBURGH — In the all-too-familiar tale that’s been told this season, Paul Skenes delivered another excellent start for the Pittsburgh Pirates, but one that went to waste.

Skenes allowed just one run against the Houston Astros in 8.0 innings but took the loss in the Pirates’ 3-0 loss — the 10th time they’ve been shut out this season.

“Unbelievable. Like his last outings, he’s really efficient,” said manager Don Kelly on his ace’s performance. “Fastball command was there. He mixed it up as well, kept them off balance. Did a great job. Pitch count was down, was able to get through eight innings. Just great job by him, giving us a chance to win.”

As Kelly said, Skenes again gave the Pirates a chance to win, but again, they ended the night with a loss.

After another stellar start, Skenes has a sparkling 2.05 ERA on the season, just a tick higher than his 1.96 ERA from his historic rookie season in 2024.

But Skenes’ record is just 4-6, while the Pirates have a 5-8 record in games he’s started this season. The offense scored a total of 20 runs between two starts — 10-run performances on Apr. 14 against the Washington Nationals and last week against the Diamondbacks in Arizona. In his other 11 starts, the Pirates have scored a combined total of 27 runs and have been shut out three times.

The level-headed 23-year-old isn’t letting the offensive struggles affect him.

“I think at the end of the day, we all got here by controlling what we can control,” Skenes explained. “I think it’s an acquired skill. Got to get back to that no matter what the situation is, if it’s in-game, pitch to pitch, or large-scale stuff. Just got to control what you can control.”

In their latest dismal performance, the Pirates were shut down by Astros right-hander Lance McCullers, who was making his sixth start of the season after missing the last two years due to flexor tendon surgery.

McCullers and three Houston relievers combined to hold the Pirates to four hits — all of which were singles. After the fifth inning, the Pirates didn’t have a runner reach scoring position.

Nick Gonzales, who had one of the four hits in his first game back off the injured list, was among the Pirates who were frustrated to not get Skenes a win.

“He’s Paul. He knows what he’s doing. He came to play and I wish we could’ve got him a W today, but obviously he comes in day in and day out and does it,” said Gonzales.

Tuesday’s start was the third time in his career that Skenes completed at least 8.0 innings. Oddly enough, Skenes is 0-3 in those starts.

The right-hander pitched a career-high 8.1 innings in a 2-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals last July. Last month. He threw an 8.0-inning complete game in a 1-0 loss to the Phillies in Philadelphia last month, giving him two such losses in a 17-day span.

Whether the offense is providing run support for him or not, Skenes’ mentality on the mound doesn’t waver.

You look at what happened last game, I got 10 runs of support, right. I still got to go out there and put up zeroes,” he said. “That’s controlling what I can control. It would be very easy for me to go out there and say ‘F-it’ and start throwing stuff down the middle because I got 10 runs behind me. Win or lose, that’s what you have to do.”

Though Skenes isn’t showing any public signs of frustration, the Pirates cannot afford to keep wasting these types of starts from Skenes. Since the start of May, Skenes has a 1.77 ERA across seven starts, but the Pirates are 2-5 in those games.

All season long the Pirates have received good work from their starting rotation. Pittsburgh ranks 11th in baseball with a 3.60 ERA from its starting staff.

But too many of those starts have gone to waste, and it’s why the Pirates are 22-39 and in a distance last place in the National League Central.

Though they have shown some improvement offensively, the Pirates are on a worse pace this season than when they had back-to-back 100-loss seasons in 2021-22.

With their most recent loss, the Pirate are on pace to end up 58-104, which would be their worst showing since finishing 57-105 15 years ago. Prior to 2010, the last time the Pirates lost 104 games was in 1987. Only five times in franchise history have they lost at least 104 games.

Considering a generational talent is atop the starting rotation, that’s inexcusable.

“I think where it does get frustrating is Paul puts up a great start and we don’t score any runs there, and I think that it’s something that everybody feels. I just don’t want to overreact to it,” said Kelly. Yes, it’s a big deal, we need to be better, but we did a really good job on the road trip to find ways to piece some together and score some runs and get back to doing that tomorrow.”