Pirates wasting another Paul Skenes master class highlights their major flaws
from Adam Gretz, with YardBarker.com/www.yardbarker.com
The 2026 Pittsburgh Pirates are a better baseball team than they have been in recent years.
They have improved. The harsh reality is that they have not improved enough.
Nothing illustrates that more than the fact they are only 6-6 in games started by ace and reigning Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes.
They lost another Skenes start on Thursday, dropping a 7-2 decision to the Chicago Cubs.
It would be nearly impossible to put the blame for that on Skenes. Just as it would be to put their record in his starts on him.
Pirates are wasting Paul Skenes starts again
For Skenes’ part, he struck out 10 batters in 5.1 innings on Thursday night, allowing just one earned run, lowering his ERA to 2.89 for the season.
While 2.89 looks like an inflated number for him given what he has done so far in his career, that is right in line with what should be a reasonable expectation for a true ace starter.
Keep in mind, a 2.89 ERA in 2026 would have been fifth-best in the National League and 10th best in all of Major League Baseball. He is also working with a 0.86 WHIP (walks/hits per innings pitched) that is third best in baseball.
He hasn’t been as superhuman as he was in his first two years, but he has still been objectively great.
He has allowed one earned run or fewer in eight of his first 12 starts.
So how do the Pirates only have six wins in those starts?
Thursday’s game is a great illustration of it.
It’s the defense.
While the Pirates improved their lineup in the offseason offensively, they do not possess many above-average fielders. In Thursday’s game, the left side of the infield contributed two errors in the sixth inning that resulted in two unearned runs when they should have been out of the inning with zero runs. That already put them in a hole.
It’s the lack of depth in the lineup.
When all of the Pirates starters are healthy, they have a formidable starting lineup that has produced a top-five offense in runs scored.
But with Ryan O’Hearn and Konnor Griffin sidelined with injuries on Thursday, and with Nick Gonzales leaving the game with an injury, they do not have enough depth to make up for that and were relying on guys like Jared Triolo, Jake Mangum, Henry Davis and Tyler Callihan.
They managed just one run off Cubs starter Colin Rea, who still exited Thursday’s game with a 4.70 ERA even after a strong start.
It’s the bullpen.
The bullpen has been a problem all season, not only blowing leads and blowing saves, but also turning close games into blowouts, which was the case on Thursday when they let a 3-2 game in the eighth inning rapidly become a 7-2 game that was out of reach.
If the Pirates are going to compete this season, they need to take advantage of having one of the best starting pitchers in baseball. Going 6-6 in his starts when he is pitching like an ace is not taking advantage of that luxury.
It is showing they still have too many flaws and too many holes to really put themselves among the league’s contenders.