Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes did not have his most dominant stuff in their season-opening 5-4 loss to the Miami Marlins. Despite that, he still pitched into the sixth inning, struck out seven and only allowed the Marlins to hit one ball (a third-inning double) out of the infield.
He was great.
He was exactly what a major league team would want to see from its starting pitcher on Opening Day.
Then the rest of the team did what it does best — and did so many times in his rookie season — and completely crumbled as soon as he left the game, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
Clutch hitting to add to the lead? Nonexistent as the Pirates went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
Good fundamental defense? Absolutely none of it.
First basemen Endy Rodriguez committed one error, shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa helped set up the Marlins’ first run with a bad throw that was not charged as an error and center fielder Oneil Cruz made two late-inning blunders that helped lead to the tying and winning runs. In the bottom of the eighth inning, he threw home in a one-run game with two outs to allow the tying run to move into scoring position. It scored one batter later on a single. In the bottom of the ninth inning, he misplayed a fly ball to center field that resulted in a lead-off triple.
How about some quality bullpen arms from the back end? Nope. Setup man Colin Holderman and closer David Bednar picked up where they left off a season ago and combined to give up three earned runs in one official inning of work.
Add it all together and that is how you turn a 4-1 lead — which is what the Pirates were dealing with when Skenes left the game in the bottom of the sixth inning — into a 5-4 loss.
If you are the Pirates, it should be unacceptable.
If you are Skenes, it should be insanely frustrating.
If you are a Pirates fan, it has to be maddening because it is the exact same script that played out in so many of Skenes’ starts during his rookie season.
No matter how well he pitches, or what he does, there are still 24 other players on the roster who are going to find a way to mess it up.
It also should not be surprising, mostly because the Pirates brought back so much of the same roster from a season ago, made almost no meaningful improvements and still kept the back end of the bullpen in place despite their awful 2024 performance.
Expecting the same team and players who already showed they were not good enough to suddenly be good enough almost never works out.
But that is not even the worst of it when you consider the manner in which they are deploying their players.
Until late last season, Cruz — a natural shortstop — had never played a game of center field in his professional career until they, on a whim, sent him out there.
They had their best defensive catcher, Rodriguez, playing at first base, a position he has rarely played in his pro career.
They did that so an inferior defensive catcher, Joey Bart, could start behind the plate.
All while a utility infielder, Kiner-Falefa, could start at shortstop.
It is no wonder the team is fundamentally bad in the field.
Despite being one of baseball’s best pitchers in 2024, Skenes managed to get a win in just 11 of his 23 starts.
If Thursday is any indication of what is ahead this season, he may not do much better in the “W” column. No matter how well he pitches.
