On May 18, the Pirates were swept by the Philadelphia Phillies and turned in a game that stands as a microcosm of Pittsburgh’s struggles this year.

In short, the Pirates are just terrible when it comes to run support.

Here’s the thing. Paul Skenes, once again, turned in a fantastic game. He pitched a complete game, managed to give up only one run and logged nine strikeouts. In spite of his efforts, though, the Pirates managed to lose to the Phillies, 1-0.

Sadly, we’ve seen this time and time again. For the most part, the pitching staff is solid. The starting five do their jobs and the bullpen isn’t half bad, with the exception of reliever Colin Holderman (7.90 ERA to date) and a closer situation that is in flux.

The problem with Pittsburgh becomes glaringly obvious when one examines a few statistics at MLB.com. Out of the 30 teams in Major League Baseball, Pittsburgh ranks a middling 17th with an ERA of 4.08. Opposing teams, meanwhile, are logging a so-so 2.40 batting average against the Pirates — ranking the Bucs 14th in the MLB.

While the pitching could use some improvement, the Pirates might be fine with some run support to help out the bullpen. Unfortunately, there is none of that in Pittsburgh and the starters this season haven’t changed that much from last year. The team ranks dead last in the MLB with a miserable 141 total runs scored. They are tied for dead last in MLB with the Chicago White Sox and Colorado Rockies with a dismal .217 batting average.

In other words, the Pirates are giving up a little over 4 runs per game and only score 3 runs on average. It’s no shock, then, that the Pirates’ 17-33 record is only better than those of the hopeless Rockies (8-40) and the clueless White Sox (15-35).

At some point, one has to wonder what on earth the front office in Pittsburgh was doing during the offseason. The problem with run production existed last year and it doesn’t appear the team has done a thing to correct it. A real problem for Pittsburgh is that ace Paul Skenes will be up for free agency in 2029. Why on earth would he stick around Pittsburgh when the team has shown no inclination to invest in some offense for one of the best pitchers in the game?

While the Pirates have effectively traded in the Jolly Roger for the white flag by firing their manager a couple of weeks ago, it’s hard to argue that watching this team is just difficult. The season is a little over 25 percent over and the team just seems to be getting worse.

Photo Credit; Fansided

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