The Pittsburgh Pirates are experiencing yet another lost season, where fans are completely fed up with the organization and team owner Bob Nutting. The roster is lackluster with Nutting showing no desire to spend money to field a competitive roster. These are the main reasons why Pirates fans are fed up.
There is a lone bright spot on the Pirates this season, and it's undoubtedly starting pitcher Paul Skenes. The ace continues to live up to the hype in his second full season with the team. The shame of it all is due to the roster construction, Skenes' phenomenal efforts are going to waste. Look no further than some history Skenes has made.
According to Stathead, Skenes now has the lowest ERA by a pitcher through their first 46 starts in the Live Ball ERA, beginning in 1920. Skenes holds a 1.99 ERA, which is now better than previous record-holder Vida Blue, who held a 2.02 ERA through his first 46 starts with the Oakland Athletics (1969-1971).
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Paul Skenes makes incredible history during wasted Pirates tenure
Just think about it, Skenes broke a record that was held for over 50 years, and he's doing so on a team that has been nowhere near the playoff picture during his entire tenure.
This season, Skenes is one of the favorites to win the NL Cy Young Award. This season, Skenes leads the majors with a 2.02 ERA, a 208 ERA+, 6.1 hits-per-nine innings ratio, and 0.5 home runs-per-nine innings ratio. Skenes has also recorded a 0.920 WHIP, 154 strikeouts, and 34 walks in 138.0 innings.
As stressed earlier, Skenes doesn't get much run support, as evidenced by his six wins in 23 starts. The Pirates rank dead last in RBI with 395. That is substantially less than the team with the second-fewest RBI in the Colorado Rockies, who recorded 413. The Pirates, as a team, hold a .232 batting average (26th in the majors) and a .649 OPS (30th in the majors).
Sure, Skenes is entering the history books with his incredible play and could very well win the Cy Young, but a World Series title may be hard to attain as a member of the Pirates, unless ownership finally decides to spend money to build a playoff contender.