Pittsburgh Pirates phenom Paul Skenes finds himself in the same spot as Mike Trout early in his Los Angeles Angels career. Skenes will do something magical every time he takes to the field, but a poor team around him makes it hard for him to challenge for a postseason spot.
Skenes, who started his second All-Star game in as many years, polished off six scoreless innings against the contending Detroit Tigers. Skenes lowered his 2025 ERA to 1.91 and his career ERA to 1.94, putting him in a tier all his own this early into his career.
There had been no pitcher in the modern era (since 1901), who has struck out 300 or more batters while maintaining a sub 2.00 ERA in their first 44 MLB games before Skenes hit that mark. Despite all of those accolades, Skenes' Pirates remain one of the worst teams in the league.
Pirates GM Ben Cherington should have been swapped out long ago, but with Skenes putting together one of the best two-year stretches any pitcher in MLB history has ever had with nothing to show for it, his job should be on even more tenuous footing than it already is.
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Pirates should fire Ben Cherington after failing to capitalize on Paul Skenes
Cherington has been able to develop some solid pitchers. Look no further than Skenes, Mitch Keller, and Jared Jones. Bailey Falter has been slightly above league-average as an unheralded trade addition, and the Pirates have one of the best 1-2 bullpen punches in the game in Dennis Santana and David Bednar.
Cherington's inability to provide Skenes with any offense whatsoever is getting comical. Cherington, who has been in Pittsburgh since 2019, has assembled a lineup with one player (often injured infielder Nick Gonzalez) with an OPS+ over 100. No wonder Skenes never gets run support.
The normally reliable Bryan Reynolds is having a down year, Oneil Cruz is fighting to stay above the Mendoza line, and Ke'Bryan Hayes' defensive skills don't always make up for him being one of the worst regular hitters in the league. Skenes needs to hold opponents scoreless just to have a shot at earning a win.
The Pirates have Skenes locked in as their top starter for the next few seasons (at least), and they need to find some way to surround him with viable bats that Cherington has not been able to do so far in his Pittsburgh tenure.