The Pittsburgh Pirates haven’t played good baseball for much of September, but they finally turned things around over the weekend, snapping a 1-12 skid with back-to-back shutouts of the Athletics.
It was just another reminder of how much talent and potential the Pirates’ pitching staff has. Despite their disappointing 67-89 record, they lead the Major Leagues with 19 shutouts this season and are tied with the Chicago Cubs for the seventh-best ERA in MLB (3.82).
During Monday’s episode of “Fair Territory,” MLB insider Ken Rosenthal commented on Pittsburgh’s bright future and impressive turnaround under new manager Don Kelly.
“They have built a collection of young arms that is really the envy of the sport,” Rosenthal said. “They have also played better under Don Kelly than they did under Derek Shelton. They’ve had their moments since the change in managers.”
After starting the season 12-26 (.316 winning percentage) under Shelton, the Pirates have improved to 55-63 (.466 winning percentage) under Kelly, essentially returning to their performance level from 2023 and 2024 when they had a .469 winning percentage both seasons.
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While Pittsburgh general manager Ben Cherington has been criticized for the team’s recent struggles, Rosenthal defended the former World Series champion while also acknowledging that the franchise hasn’t played up to expectations.
“Ben Cherington is one of the most respected people in the game. He’s a guy, everyone will tell you, is of extremely high character,” Rosenthal said. “At the same time, the performance is what the performance is.”
Rosenthal named other teams in similar markets that have outperformed the Pirates, including the Milwaukee Brewers, Cleveland Guardians and Cincinnati Reds.
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As Rosenthal notes, Pittsburgh is heading into a critical offseason. The Pirates are loaded with young pitching talent and appear to be trending in the right direction, but they also need to significantly improve baseball’s lowest-scoring offense.
After seven straight losing seasons, fans are starting to grow restless in Pittsburgh. There are plenty of reasons for optimism, but they also want to start seeing better results.
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