Inevitability and Paul Skenes

 

There's a piece of good news in the midst of the misery that is Pirates baseball recently. And that is since May 19th, the Pirates are 12-7. As atrocious as they were in May, they were able to come back, win some games, and go on a tear starting with a sweep of the Phillies and continuing with some fun games against Miami. Even if the Pirates still finish in fourth, which is likely, they will still do so with slightly more effort than previously thought, and with a few more immediate indications of future quality.

But the thing about all of this is that in all of the promise for what could be a competitive Pirates team, the current timetable still doesn't seem to indicate that it will include Paul Skenes. A year into his MLB career, Skenes is far and away the best player on the team, and may be the only truly great player in Pittsburgh this year. And judging by Bob Nutting's noncommittal mentality to building a baseball team, there may not be any reason for Skenes to stay in Pittsburgh going forward. Everyone knows it. Skenes himself knows it.

The big, damning stat is that Skenes, headed for Cy Young votes, has a 4-6 record. There are too many games he goes into, gives up 2 or less runs and still loses due to the infuriating lack of Pirates run support. His ERA is currently 1.88 through 14 starts, which is insane. He also leads the league in innings pitched with 91, in addition to his 92 strikeouts, meaning he's averaging one per inning. Skenes, at 23, has reached his peak period, and intends to continue at this pace for a while. We're still at the point where watching Skenes start is must-see TV, and even if he takes down your team [as he did Philly], you have to respect it. I am slightly worried about the Strasburg factor of cooking his arm, but I also think Skenes just has better overall mechanics than Strasburg. 

Regardless, the Pirates are trying to soldier on and continue their progress despite the possibility that their best player probably isn't getting extended and will likely be dealt in the next year or so. There's really not much to pay attention to at the moment. Oneil Cruz leads the NL in steals but also in strikeouts. Andrew Heaney has been a sharp veteran arm but A.) has a worse record than Skenes and B.) has 'dealt by July' written all over him. Henry Davis is finally hitting, but is it a mirage? It's just not a pretty picture overall, and the threat of Skenes leaving doesn't add to it.

Part of me just wants the tide to shift, and for the Pirates to have a Tigers-esque 'struck by lightning' moment that makes them a factor, but I don't know if that can happen when really just Skenes is tearing the place down for this team. Maybe I'm wrong, but it's looking like a one horse show for another year or so.

Coming Tomorrow- Seeing as the mock-ups for the Vegas stadium listed him as a starter for 2027 or whatever, it's a good thing he's started hitting.