A couple of weeks ago, I listened to a podcast show. In the show, an analyst mentioned the Pirates pitching staff and their performance.
After listening to the podcast show, I was just thinking about the impact of Paul Skenes. He made his MLB debut in 2024. After he joined the Pirates rotation, is the Pirates rotation truly upgraded?
To solve my doubt, I decided to check on the great Fangraphs website.
Firstly, Paul Skenes made his MLB debut on May 11, 2024. Let’s combine the stats in the 2023 season and the stats in 2024 (before May 11, 2024). In 201 games, the Pirates starters owned a 4.61 ERA, which ranked 23rd among 30 MLB teams. Moreover, the Pirates starting pitchers had a BAA of .252, which ranked 22nd among 30 MLB teams. Also, their WAR was 9.4, which was 27th among 30 MLB teams. Hence, it’s clear that the Pirates starting pitchers didn’t pitch very well before Paul Skenes joined the rotation.
So, after Paul Skenes joined the rotation, did things change dramatically? This time, we combine stats in 2024 (from May 11, 2024) and stats in 2025. In 285 games, the Pirates starters owned a 3.87 ERA, which ranked 8th among 30 MLB teams. Furthermore, opponents hit .242 against the Pirates starting pitchers. A .242 BAA ranked 14th among 30 MLB teams. Also, their WAR was 22.7 during this period. A 22.7 WAR was much higher than a 9.4 WAR previously. It’s quite clear. What does this 22.7 WAR mean? Well, it ranked 7th among 30 MLB teams. That’s actually pretty good.
Finally, let’s take a closer look. In the 2025 season, the Pirates starting pitchers finished the season with a 3.71 ERA. A 3.71 ERA ranked 6th among 30 MLB teams. This truly has shown that the Pirates actually have a good rotation this season. Looking at the top 5 teams in starters’ ERA, only the Rangers didn’t play October baseball. However, a tricky thing is that the Pirates starters didn’t have a winning record. They only got 35 wins and took 53 losses. Furthermore, opponents hit .235 against the Pirates starters, which was the 5th lowest among 30 MLB teams. So, looking at the results, it wasn’t easy to hit well against the Pirates starters.
The Pirates finished the 2025 season with 71 wins and 91 losses. Again, they missed the postseason. Nonetheless, there’s something worth monitoring. That’s their rotation. After Paul Skenes joined the Pirates rotation, the Pirates starting pitchers have become much better. In 2025, we might be able to say that the Pirates rotation could be the top 5 in the majors in some ways. Nevertheless, unfortunately, the Pirates starters didn’t earn many wins in 2025. Looking forward, with Paul Skenes in the rotation, if he’s healthy, the Pirates actually can make some impacts in the league. The Pirates must be glad to have Paul Skenes in the rotation and he hasn’t made the fans down with winning the Cy Young award. However, there’s always an important question. What do the Pirates miss? How is the front office going to improve the team?
No comments:
Post a Comment