The Pittsburgh Pirates are .500 at the All-Star Break. Where does that rank them in this week’s power rankings?
The Pittsburgh Pirates improved to .500 yesterday after beating the Chicago White Sox in the series finale.
That begs the question, where are the Pirates placing in the power rankings?
Sportsnaut writer Matt Johnson has put the Pirates at No. 18, two spots ahead of his previous edition. Part of the jump has been due to the rise of Paul Skenes.
We can only imagine the numbers Paul Skenes would have if the Pittsburgh Pirates allowed him to make his MLB debut on Opening Day. Instead, the 22-year-old righty had to wait for his call-up. Since joining the Pirates rotation on May 11, Skenes has a 1.90 ERA with a 34.9 percent strikeout rate and a .201 batting average allowed. The Pirates’ future is bright with Skenes, but it is disappointing to see Ke’Bryan Hayes (.582 OPS) just never take the leap everyone hoped for.
The Pirates are 8-3 when Skenes starts, and that has certainly contributed to the team’s rally over the past few weeks. The team also sits just 1.5 games back of the New York Mets for the third and final Wild Card spot in the National League.
This could potentially prompt the Pirates to make some moves ahead of the July 31 trade deadline, but with so few buyers, it’s far from a guarantee that Pittsburgh will be active on the phones at the end of the month.
Maybe if the Pirates can start out hot after the All-Star Break, then that could be enough to get the ball rolling.