The Pirates’ Season Just Might Be Over, Let’s Rank The Causes.
Well, guys, it feels like these last 8 games may just be the beginning of the end for this 2026 Pirates team. I want to add in the immediate caveat that I hope for nothing more than for this blog to age as poorly as possible. Unfortunately, my hopes of being wrong here aren’t very high. Less than two weeks ago, this team felt like it was surging into peak form. They had just taken game one of the Diamondbacks series, and were officially sitting in a wildcard spot for the first time all season. Come the ninth inning of the very next game, back to back home runs from Brandon Lowe and Bryan Reyonlds tied the score at 6 with no outs, and it felt like the Pirates were about to take real control of the wild card race and potentially build a bit of a lead over the D-Backs. Unfortunately, the Buccos didn’t score with those last three outs in the ninth, and were only able to muster one run in the three ensuing innings, and the D-Backs 12th inning run proved to be the winner.
Since that point, the Pirates have played 9 more games, and lost 7 of them. Since getting to a wildcard spot, this team is 2-8. Luke Weaver was added at the deadline, and he hasn’t gotten to throw a pitch in a Pirates uniform, because all three games that he’s been active for have been 4-2 or 5-2 losses. This Brewers series was like some sort of sick Groundhog Day from the second game on. The only Pirates offense coming off of home runs to cut into the lead, or occasionally tie a game before immediately handing the lead back to Milwaukee, or letting them extend their lead with hard hit balls up and down the lineup. Pittsburgh batters were waving on pitches and taking strike three looking left and right. Endy Rodriguez had a hot bat, and that’s the end of the list of hot bats in this series. I don’t know where the offense went. I’m sure the 17 straight game stretch has to be physically taxing, and the very last bit of optimism left in me is begging that Monday’s break can flip some sort of reset switch, because if it doesn’t you might as well cancel your SNP360 subscription for a couple months until the Pens’ season starts back up.
Operating under the more-than-likely scenario going forward, that this team is dead, I thought we could go ahead and rank the things that went wrong this year.
Honorable Mention: The current state of the MLB.
I don’t have enough financial or labor know-how to dissect this whole situation, but the Dodgers team is unfair, right? Like, if your owner isn’t willing or able to spend a billion dollars, how the hell are you supposed to compete with that?
5. Don Kelly
Listen, I know the man wasn’t handed a great situation, but he isn’t a good manager. We can all point to more than a few situations this year that make you say, “did he really do that?” (we all remember the Lowe pinch hit, right?) I would put him higher on this list, but he is more of a general dunce, and doesn’t have near the blame to take on as the villains ahead of him.
4. Paul Skenes
(Quick shameless plug, I wrote a whole piece on Paul Skenes earlier today. If you’ve read this far, you might as well click over to that next.)
Paul Skenes hasn’t been close to the pitcher we’re used to seeing. The fact that he has been so mediocre could honestly be listed as the #1 reason for this team’s downfall if the other guys ahead of him didn’t cause active misery. 20% of games should’ve seen the Pirates holding a giant advantage with Skenes on the mound, instead he’s been outshined by opponents’ staffs on a regular basis. The general feeling in 2024 and 2025 was that if the offense could muster 3 runs, you could feel really good with Paul on the mound. Nowadays you need 3 runs to not be in the hole when Paul leaves the game. (Usually in the first 5 innings.)
3. The Bullpen
I could write a 20-page dissertation on the dread this unit has caused me. 20 blown saves. Yes, 20. If that number was half of what it was, this team would be 8 games over .500 and firmly in the wildcard, a game ahead of Philly and Arizona. This unit has been horrid. Dennis Santana regressed from a closer to DFA’d on deadline week. No lead was safe this year, and I truly believe losing games that felt like we’d already won them deflated this team’s spirits over time. There’s been good stretches from a few guys, but no one deserves praise as all of them have had individual moments where they alone have turned what should have been a win into a loss.
2. Ben Cherington
This guy should’ve been fired last year. We could make a separate list of things Ben Cherington did that actively caused this team to be worse. The 5 most heinous baseball decisions are as follows:
5. Going into the season without a closer/ trading Bednar last year to begin with.
4. Not making a trade for bullpen help earlier in the season.
3.Not getting a true 3rd baseman.
2. Hiring Donnie Kelly.
1. GIVING MARCEL OZUNA $12 MILLION!!!
1.Bob Nutting
Let’s be real, this cheapskate shouldn’t own a professional sports team. If he wants to make money, he can own literally any profitable business. The fact that he doesn’t have a competitive bone in his body, has led him to continue to field one of the lowest-paid rosters while collecting rev-share money and putting it directly in the bank year in and year out. I hate him, you hate him, we all hate him. Sell the team.
Where do all of you put the blame for the collapse of this Pirates season?
