The Pittsburgh Pirates are, without equal, the most frustrating organization in MLB.
There are bad teams. There are bad organizations. But no club appears so close to contention, yet so unwilling to reach out and seize the opportunity. It starts, of course, with ownership. Bob Nutting has the world laid out before him, but there is zero interest to invest in winning if it means breaking the bank — even a little bit.
A cursory glance at the Pirates roster reveals major star-power. Paul Skenes has emerged as probably the best pound-for-pound pitcher in baseball. He has been electric out of the gate, with a 2.96 ERA and 0.74 WHIP through four starts, stockpiling 26 strikeouts in 24.0 innings. The swing-and-miss stuff is unmatched.
He isn't the only star on the roster, though. Bryan Reynolds quietly ranks among the NL's top outfielders. Jared Jones, when healthy, is on the All-Star track behind Skenes in the rotation. And now, the Pirates are enjoying a full-scale breakthrough from Oneil Cruz, the 6-foot-7 centerfield/shortstop hybrid with one of baseball's most powerful swings.
Cruz has been elite in the early stages of this season. He's batting .230 with an .863 OPS, raking five home runs and notching nine stolen bases (on nine attempts) through 18 appearances. He's one of the most dangerous base runners in the league right now.
Correction: Dating back to last year, Oneil Cruz has successfully stolen 29 bases without getting caught https://t.co/SBy2W3LAlB
— 𝐍𝐒𝟗 (@NorthShoreNine) April 17, 2025
And yet... despite, Skenes, Cruz, and plenty of talent elsewhere in the clubhouse, the Pirates are 8-13 — dead last in the NL Central.
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Paul Skenes, Oneil Cruz are great, but Pirates still aren't good enough to compete
The Pirates are a few small additions away from winning a lot of games and making noise in a winnable division. Instead, Bob Nutting continues to cheap out at every turn. Pittsburgh has the sixth-lowest payroll in MLB despite the promise of last season.
Nutting's team sits 26th in hits, 22nd in runs, and 29th in batting average. Cruz has been on a heater, but the rest of the lineup is stuck in stasis. It undermines Cruz's constant hard-hitting and base-stealing. It also puts tremendous stress on Skenes and what should be an effective rotation. It's hard to win games without run support, even as MLB's most electric arm. Pittsburgh is 2-2 in games Skenes starts.
Cruz checks all the metric boxes. He's in the 88th percentile for hard-hit rate, the 91st percentile for walks, the 99th percentile for arm strength in the outfield, and the 86th percentile for sprint speed — again, at 6-foot-7 and 240 pounds.
He's an athletic anomaly, full stop, and the Pirates are wasting what appears to be his coming out party. Sure, Cruz still has his warts — the glove needs work and he strikes out a lot — but Pittsburgh needs more of his slugging and general offensive competence. He gets on base a lot and pitchers would rather not face him with runners in scoring position, nor to begin an inning. No matter the circumstance, Cruz has the skill set to render an impact.
It's a shame that he has virtually no help behind him in the order. Until the Pirates start to spend like a real team and put a competent MLB lineup on the field, the losses will continue to stack up.