Paul Skenes was brilliant again Monday night in St. Louis, as he went six innings, gave up four hits, one run and struck out seven. It is the kind of performance that actually is almost “ho hum” when it comes to Skenes because he has been so good for so long and has set the bar so high for himself.
Skenes has been “that guy” and then some for the Pirates and has proven they were correct to take him first overall in last year’s MLB draft. It is a shame that his record is only 10-3, and that’s because of nights like Monday when the Pirates managed only four hits.
It isn’t Skenes’ fault that the Pirates offense is inconsistent at best and bad at worst, and it isn’t his fault that they struggle so much to score runs. He has given them a chance to win every time he has taken the mound, and they have blown it. Skenes has a 2.07 ERA, 158 strikeouts in 126 innings and a WHIP of 0.98, which is ridiculous.
Forget about rookie of the year numbers, those are Cy Young award-worthy numbers, and I expect Skenes to only get better as he gets more experience pitching in the major leagues.
Oneil Cruz probably isn’t ever going to be a good shortstop, and that’s why the Pirates’ front office and on-field coaching staff made the decision to move him to the outfield. It really doesn’t matter if he ever becomes a star in the outfield, he just needs to be competent because Cruz is slowly but surely turning into a star at the plate.
There was a long period where it looked like Cruz might not figure it out at the plate, but the reality is he has slowly but surely begun to figure it out. His numbers aren’t overwhelming yet — he is .268/.326/.459 with an OPS of .785 with 19 home runs — but he did hit .389/.449/.537 with a .986 OPS in August. He has cooled off in September, but he has been hampered by some nagging injuries.
Cruz showed in August how important of a player he is and how good of a player he can be. He clearly has develop more consistency. He needs to stay healthy and he needs to continue to improve, but given his skill set and his relative inexperience, the room for growth is there and his ceiling is high.
This season is lost and once again there are a lot of pessimistic feelings about the Pirates, but I would ask people to stay focused on the fact that the Pirates have two legitimate superstar talents to build around in 2025. And both are very young and likely will get better.
I haven’t done a full survey of the entire league, but I have to imagine very few pitching staffs will be anchored by someone as good as Skenes. And while Cruz has a long way to go to be elite, he at least has the skill to be elite.
Now, the Pirates have a bunch work to do and there are plenty of holes to fill, but they have some pretty good pieces to go around Skenes and Cruz, as well.
Jared Jones looks like he has a chance to be a really good No. 2, and there are several other real options to fill in the pitching staff. That’s a great place to start with all this, as it is hard to build a pitching staff, but the Pirates already have a really good start to a strong one. And again, it is built on the foundation of an ace — a true ace — and one of the elite pitchers in Major League Baseball.
The everyday lineup does need a lot of work, but Bryan Reynolds and Joey Bart give the Pirates stability at two key positions and both have proven to be consistent performers. Reynolds is probably going to get 25 home runs and has an OPS of .800, and Bart has an OPS of .821 and 13 home runs in only 221 at-bats.
It is obviously now up to Ben Cherington and company to fill in some of the blanks in the everyday lineup and the bullpen. These are things that absolutely have to happen in the offseason, but the Pirates are probably not as far away from contending than it appears.
That’s especially true given the fact that they have a stud pitcher and a potentially elite superstar to build around. I look back at a lot of teams who were trying to climb into contention, and many that failed didn’t have that going for them.
That’s why 2024 is not a completely lost cause for the Pirates, as they do have some things to build on going into next season.
Paul Zeise: pzeise@post-gazette.com or Twitter: @paulzeise
First Published: September 18, 2024, 1:28 p.m.
Updated: September 19, 2024, 2:00 a.m.
