Lost Treasure

By Mike Rifkin

Remember last week when the Pittsburgh Pirates won six consecutive games, and you thought hey maybe they turned the corner? Well, they didn’t and the Pirates spent the July fourth weekend without fireworks, as they were shutout in an entire series by the Seattle Mariners. The Mariners outscored the Pirates 8-0, including 1-0 wins on Saturday and Sunday. 

Sunday’s loss hurts more because it was Paul Skenes pitching, and Skenes was fantastic, with 10 strikeouts and no runs allowed in his five innings of work. Why he was pulled at 78 pitches is something I don’t understand (unless it’s injury related). Paul Skenes is in the top ten in ERA (1.94), strikeouts (125), and WHIP(0.92), yet his record is 4-7. Why is such a dominant pitcher 4-7? Well, the Pirates have scored two runs or less in seven of Skenes’ starts. The Pirates are 26th in team batting average (.231) and 30th in homers (61). With the trade deadline looming the Pirates have a few names to consider moving are outfielder Brian Reynolds, starting pitcher Mitch Keller and Closer David Bednar. 

Now here’s the thing for GM Ben Cherington, he has to add pieces for the 2026 Pirates, as they look to make the playoffs for the first time since 2015. If they don’t make those additions and the 2026 Pirates are similar to the Pirates we’ve seen this season, well then the Paul Skenes trade whispers are going to get louder. And for a team that has already gone through this (Gerrit Cole) it’s not out of the realm of possibility it can happen again, and the Pirates could lose two treasured pitchers.