Things are pretty rough for the Pittsburgh Pirates and, perhaps even more so, their fans these days. Pittsburgh has the fourth-lowest payroll in Major League Baseball, the third-worst record, and a fan is currently in the hospital in critical condition after falling more than 20 feet from the stands to the field on Wednesday night. To top it all off, Pirates fans seem to be turning on superstar pitcher Paul Skenes as well.
Skenes, the top pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, was nothing short of incredible as a rookie. He posted an 11-3 record with a 1.96 ERA, which would have led the league among starters had he pitched enough innings. His 5.9 BWAR was only 0.5 wins behind league leader Tarik Skubal with nearly 60 fewer innings pitched. Skenes has been electric again this season, but to a slightly lesser degree. Through seven starts, he has a 3-3 record with a 2.74 ERA.
In Thursday’s start against the Chicago Cubs, Skenes was solid, yet unspectacular. He pitched five innings and allowed three earned runs with just two strikeouts and four walks. With the team floundering yet again and Skenes showing that he is, in fact, human, Pittsburgh fans have begun to sour a bit on their ace.
i told yall to pump the brakes on skenes. is he an amazing talent? yes. but still needs to prove himself over multiple seasons.
— will howard szn
(@asdfjkmark) May 1, 2025
“Paul Skenes has now had 2 very poor starts and has not looked anything like he did last year,” one fan posted on X. “The book is in on him and he just may not be the superduperstar we all had hoped for, looks pretty mediocre right now, not even in top 20 of best starters in MLB.”
“He’s not a generational pitcher. No generational pitcher gives up 3 homers in a game, let alone an inning. Been trying to tell you ppl this,” said another.
Is that a huge overreaction? Yes, of course it is. But Pirates fans are down bad, and owner Bob Nutting seemingly has no interest in spending money to improve his team. So you can sort of understand where the frustration is coming from. Aiming it at Skenes, however, seems wildly misguided.
The post Pittsburgh Pirates Fans Are Already Turning On Paul Skenes After One Difficult Outing appeared first on BroBible.
Pittsburgh Pirates Fans Are Already Turning On Paul Skenes After One Difficult Outing
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