Where do the Pirates stand as concerns around Paul Skenes continue to grow?
Yahoo Sports senior MLB analyst Jake Mintz and sportscaster for the Baltimore Orioles and ESPN Kevin Brown discuss what the Pittsburgh Pirates need as concern around Paul Skenes continues to grow. Hear the full conversation on the "Baseball Bar-B-Cast" podcast - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts , Spotify or wherever you listen.
Video Transcript
The Pirates of the weekend at home took two out of three from the Boston Red Sox with nice offensive performances.
This looked like the Pirates from April and May and June, the team that was scoring runs in buckets.
Skeens gets his start pushed back.
He was supposed to start on Sunday.
We talked about his velocity dwindling, last week.
He's gonna start Wednesday instead.
This whole situation is very weird, but at least the Buccos got a series win.
Kevin, as you prepare to talk about the Pittsburgh Pirates on television this evening, where is this team at in your head?
It's a lot different than when I was preparing to talk about them Friday.
Seven straight series losses until they beat Boston.
The Pirates could use O'Neal Cruz, who should be back soon.
Unfortunately, they could use Ryan O'Hearn, and he will not be back soon.
They could use Nick Gonzalez, who missed the last couple of games after getting hit in the helmet.
He might be back tonight.
The Rafael Flores Jr. Run is fun.
Esmerlin Valdez had a great weekend.
You know, the Pirates are in the wrong league.
Like, if the Pirates were in the American League, they might be the second or the third wild card right now, and we might have needed a completely different segment too, because the Pirates might just be better than everybody else in the American League wild card race.
But they're in the wrong league.
In the National League, it's a lot better.
And I'm selfishly bummed not to have Paul Skeens tonight, because it's such a fascinating story.
But rest assured, it will still be a big part of the discussion.
And ultimately, look, I like what Pittsburgh has done this year.
If Paul Skeens is not gonna be Paul Skeens again, there's too much ground to overcome for this team, realistically.
Yeah.
So maybe the extra days of rest are gonna turn him back into Paul Skeens.
I hope so, because is there a more precious asset in the sport to a team than Paul Skeens, right arm to the Pittsburgh Pirates?
I don't think so.
I just hope he gets right.
I hope this weird whatever it is doesn't linger.
