Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes pitched his first career complete game on Sunday, throwing eight stellar innings of one-run ball against one of baseball’s best lineups — the Philadelphia Phillies — to drop his ERA to an outstanding 2.44 for the season. He was efficient, dominant and allowed just four total baserunners with zero extra-base hits.
He did not get credit for a win. Even worse, his team did not win the game, either, as it dropped a 1-0 decision to finish a 1-5 road trip with a three-game sweep to its cross-state rivals. The Pirates are now 15-32 and continue to own one of baseball’s worst records.
When looking at the Pirates roster — specifically their position players — it’s not hard to understand them having a bad record.
It’s a bad roster that is short on talent due to a devastating combination of cheap ownership and a bumbling baseball operations department that has lost pretty much every major transaction it has made in six years.
Nobody should have reasonably expected this roster to be a contender. But the Pirates should at least be able to win the Skenes starts. They should at least be able to be something more than a bottom-three team, given the quality of the starting pitching they have received overall this season.
But they are not even doing that, and at no point is that more apparent and embarrassing than every fifth day when Skenes takes the mound.
With Sunday’s loss, the Pirates are now an almost unbelievable 3-7 in the games he has started this season, despite him pitching at a Cy Young level. Not only does he have a 2.44 ERA, but he also has a WHIP (walks/hits per inning pitched) of only 0.94. Numbers of that quality should be resulting in a win-loss record that is the exact opposite of what he has.
It’s already the second time in 10 starts this season that he has allowed one run or less, with the Pirates taking a loss.
Going back to his rookie season, he’s already had six starts where he’s gone at least six innings, allowed one run or less and still ended up losing the game.
In his 10 starts this season, he has gone less than six innings just once (never less than five), and has allowed more than two runs just twice.
The numbers defy logic and are a stain on the Pirates organization. They only have a limited number of years with him before his play prices him out of their budget. They are well on their way to wasting at least two of them with no end in sight. It’s the kind of thing that should cost people jobs. Maybe careers.
