Pirates Facing Blowback After Latest Frustrating Paul Skenes News originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
It no longer feels hyperbolic to suggest Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes makes history every time he takes the mound.
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Eventually, the time will ideally come when Skenes is setting positive records—though it’ll likely be when he’s wearing another team’s uniform.
Baseball fans and pundits alike have spent recent months demanding the lowly Pirates trade Skenes, who they feel is wasting his time in Pittsburgh. According to Cofidy Baseball, Skenes is the first full-time starting pitcher in MLB history to have a sub-1.80 ERA and fewer than five victories across a 15-game stretch.
Indeed, Skenes is 4-6 with a 1.78 ERA over an NL-high 96 innings. He’s already posted 4.1 bWAR and owns a 97-22 K-BB ratio, but the Pirates have scored two or fewer runs in six starts.
“Paul Skenes just needs to demand the trade now,” one X/Twitter user wrote. “Don’t waste another second with this garbage team.”
Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul SkenesCharles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Added another: “Come on @Pirates do the right thing and trade him if you’re not going to even attempt to bolster your roster.”
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Take a second to read that statistic again. No pitcher, whether they took the mound in 1874 or 2024, recorded a sub-1.80 ERA and less than five wins over a 15-game stretch.
Then came Skenes—and, by extension, the Pirates.
“The Pirates’ ownership continues to set marks for awfulness,” read one post.
Skenes had not demanded a trade as of publication, nor have there been any credible rumors about him forcing his way out of Pittsburgh. The Pirates have Skenes under team control through 2029.
“The Pirates know how to find generational pitchers but always do their best to fail them,” an X user commented. “Leaving Pittsburgh is the best thing that could happen to Skenes as we also saw with Gerrit Cole.”
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The Pirates traded Cole to the Houston Astros in January 2018, two years before the future AL Cy Young winner hit free agency.
“Can a SP win Cy Young with a 7-9 record?” one user asked. “We may be having that discussion in September.”
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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 16, 2025, where it first appeared.