Last year, baseball fans witnessed something very special with the Pittsburgh Pirates and the arrival in MLB of pitcher .
The rookie’s starts became must-see events, a ray of hope for a passionate fan base that has not seen its team win anything important for more than four decades, but amid the excitement for this generation of pitchers, a familiar storm was brewing.
The talent surrounding Skenes is very limited, which has prompted some scathing comments from prominent figures in Major League Baseball. And one of those voices raised the temperature recently.
The Pirates achieved a good victory over the New York Yankees by beating them in extra innings 5-4, thanks to a hit by Tommy Pham that left the Yankees lying on the field.
Pitcher Andrew Heaney was superb that day, striking out 10 in seven solid innings, but the win feels like a temporary band-aid over larger wounds.
The team struggled at the start of the season, with a disastrous 3-7 record through April 7. They suffered some heavy losses, including a 7-0 shutout to Tampa Bay and a 9-4 loss in their first home game against the Yankees, and those early struggles highlight the current problems, beyond an exciting victory.
Specialists’ criticism of the Pirates
While watching the dismantling of the Pirates live, veteran Yankees commentator Michael Kay had some harsh words for the Pittsburgh team’s senior management.
“We talked about the Pirates not doing much during the offseason,” Kay said, and explicitly addressed management and team owner Bob Nutting.
Kay believes that in Pittsburgh they are not getting the right talent for their young star, Paul Skenes, to win games, and is convinced that the organization shows no passion or real investment in the fans.
“The contracts they signed in free agency were one-year deals with veterans to sort of refresh the roster,” Kay said, pointing to additions such as Tommy Pham, Andrew Heaney and Andrew McCutchen. “The last multi-year free agent contract they signed was in November 2016,” with pitcher Ivan Nova.
This long gap highlights the tendency to avoid significant long-term investment in external talent, fueling frustration about the team’s ambition.
Meanwhile, the Pirates have made internal investments, keeping some key players at home.
In 2023, they signed outfielder Bryan Reynolds to a significant eight-year extension. Pitcher Mitch Keller signed a five-year contract in 2024 and Ke’Bryan Hayes reached an eight-year deal in 2022.
The lack of talent surrounding Skenes in Pittsburgh
These decisions demonstrate the desire to pay their own players. Kay’s argument still holds true: the team avoids the competitive free agent market for multi-year contracts, a strategy that makes it very difficult to build a complete and competitive roster around Skenes.
Last season made this scenario clear. Paul Skenes was untouchable, finishing with a 11-3 record and an impressive 1.96 ERA. He struck out 170 batters and was named the National League Rookie of the Year.
However, despite this historic performance, the Pirates finished last in their division with a losing record of 76-86.
Skenes was an exceptional player on his own, but the team failed to win consistently with him. This extreme divergence fuels fears about the present and the future.
This Saturday, Skenes makes his home debut this season with the game in which the Pirates host the St. Louis Cardinals, and for now it is known that it takes more than the brilliance of Paul Skenes to build a winning team. It requires batting depth and reliable pitching, day in and day out.
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