Pittsburgh Pirates 2024 First Half Report Card :Pitching

S. Samek

The MLB season has reached the All-star break. With a couple days off before the season resumes what did we see from the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first half of the season. Let’s dive into the first half and see what grades the team should get for their pitching.

Starting Pitching

This has to be the bright spot of the Pirates season so far. Paul Skenes was finally brought up and has done nothing but dominate to the point where he started the All-Star game last night.

Jared Jones got off to a hot start and is pitching well in his first season in the bigs. He is 5-6 with a 3.56 ERA in 16 starts. He has struck out 98 batters in 91 innings of work. He is currently on the injured list but should return in the second half.

Mitch Keller is turning in consistent performances start after start. He is 10-5 with a 3.46 ERA across 19 starts. He has pitched 114 1/3 innings while striking out 105 batters. This leads the team. His 10 wins are also among the most in all of baseball so far. I except Keller to be a workhouse starter in the second half consistently expected to go six innings maybe seven.

Bailey Falter’s been exceeding expectations. In 17 starts he’s 4-7 with a 4.008 ERA. This comes after a bad 2023.

Though Falter is currently on the injured list. With him only pitching in 18 games last year and him already starting 17 this year could his workload be an issue moving forward?

Marco Gonzales is back from his injury and has pitched pretty well in his four starts so far.

Luis Ortiz has also stepped up recently and could see more action as a starter in the second half. Especially if innings limits are reached by Skenes, or Jones.

Martin Perez hasn’t been great though. He’s 1-5 with a 5.15 ERA in 14 starts. Though he did spend some time on the injured list.

I feel like the starting pitching has been holding up pretty well despite the injuries. They are rated 21st in batting average against, 13th in ERA, 14th in strikeouts, 19th in whip and have yet to throw a shutout this season.

Relief Pitching

What was once considered the strength of the team, has kind of been a letdown. David Bednar has already blown as many saves as he did in all of 2023. He is 17 of 20 currently this season. His ERA has also jumped from 2.00 in 2023 to 5.01 so far in 2024.

Aroldis Chapman was brought in to add even more heat to the back of the bullpen. He’s 1-4 with a 4.15 ERA, which is up a while run from last year’s 3.09. Chapman has also blown three saves and is just 4 of 7 in save opportunities.

Colin Holderman has been good though with a 1.77 ERA and 3-1 record.

Injuries and ineffectiveness have seemed to hit this unit hard. It’s costing the team games and if possible, should be addressed come trade deadline.

Overall

My grade for the pitching is a B. The bullpen’s been disappointing but may still be salvageable. While the starting pitching has been good, even dominant in Skene’s case it might not be sustainable. Especially if they have to limit innings, or an injury occurs. So, it may come back down to earth a little bit.

Though they do have plenty of tools and options moving forward and I think the staff is good enough to keep them close to a playoff spot.