The Bucco Malaise eventually gets everyone.

It’s been that way since 1993, when the Pittsburgh Pirates began their streak of 20 consecutive losing seasons, which lasted through 2012 and set the record for long-term futility in major North American professional sports.

The Bucco Malaise begins like this: A young player either gets called up from the minor leagues or is acquired in a trade. He is excited to be in the big leagues for the first time and envisions a bright future.

That young player looks around the clubhouse and sees other players like him. Those players start thinking that they will eventually gel as a team and win a championship.

Then reality hits.

The players come to realize that the Pirates don’t win championships, division titles, or playoff series. The franchise hasn’t been to the World Series since 1979. Heck, the Pirates are on their way to a 29th losing season in the last 33 years.

And that is when players get a case of the Bucco Malaise. They start to understand that there is no way out of losing in Pittsburgh, and their only chance of being a winner is getting traded.

Usually, it takes a couple of years for a player to develop the Bucco Malaise. However, rookie right-hander Mike Burrows has already started showing signs of catching it just 13 games into his career.

Burrows was outstanding Friday night when he pitched six scoreless innings and held the Arizona Diamondbacks to three hits. He struck out five, walked one, and threw 62 of 86 pitches for strikes.

Yet Burrows had nothing to show for it as the Diamondbacks edged the Pirates 1-0 in 11 innings in the opener of a three-game series at PNC Park.

Burrows had the same fate as the Pirates’ top two pitchers, Paul Skenes and Mitch Keller, who are experiencing it in 2025 while playing for the lowest-scoring team in Major League Baseball. Skenes has a 5-8 record despite an MLB-best 1.91 ERA, and Keller is 4-10 with a 3.53 ERA.

The Pirates had only one hit in 11 innings against three pitchers while being shut out for the 14th time this season. Only Tommy Pham’s triple in the third inning kept the Pirates from being no-hit.

Burrows isn’t the most talkative guy in a clubhouse devoid of prominent personalities. However, the rookie was not happy following Friday night’s loss. Burrows used just 53 words to answer six questions.

Burrows wasn’t rude or hostile. He’s not that type of guy. However, he was unhappy.

Really, who could blame him? He couldn’t have pitched much better while allowing two runs or fewer for the eighth time in his last 10 outings.

“He did a nice job again,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said. “Started off (the game with a) 3-0 (count) and was able to slow down and get back in the zone and start to attack the zone. Everything was working. Changeup was really good. Breaking ball, I thought was really good too, and was able to command the fastball, which is a huge key for him.”

Burrows also had the longest outing of his nascent career.

“Burrows’ stuff looked good,” Kelly said. “It stayed up, too. It didn’t tail down at all, and he stayed in the zone, which was really good. Felt good about him going back out for the sixth.”

Yet Burrows ended up without a reward and with a bit of Bucco Malaise seeping into his psyche.