Pirates’ biggest strength is suddenly becoming a massive concern at worst time

The Pittsburgh Pirates built their 2026 hopes around one thing above all else: starting pitching.

For much of April, that belief looked justified. Even after a brutal week, Pirates starters still own a 3.88 ERA, 10th-best in baseball, while allowing the fifth-fewest hits in the majors. On paper, it remains a good rotation.

But good is not what this team was supposed to be built on.

The Pirates weren’t marketed as a club that could survive with “pretty solid” starting pitching. They were supposed to have a rotation capable of carrying an inconsistent offense, shortening games for the bullpen and preventing prolonged losing streaks altogether. Instead, at the worst possible time, the rotation is wobbling.

Pittsburgh enters this weekend’s massive series against the Cincinnati Reds having lost five straight games and coming off a humiliating four-game sweep at the hands of the St. Louis Cardinals at PNC Park. During that stretch, Pirates starters — excluding the successful bullpen game on April 27 — combined to allow 17 earned runs across 18 innings for an ugly 8.50 ERA.

That simply cannot happen for a team built this way.

Pirates desperately need starting pitching to bounce back vs Reds

Paul Skenes is still an ace. Even with two unusually shaky outings already this season, he still owns a 3.18 ERA and looks every bit like a legitimate National League Cy Young contender. The problem is that when Skenes isn’t superhuman, the Pirates suddenly look extremely vulnerable.

Mitch Keller has mostly pitched well outside of one rough outing. Braxton Ashcraft has arguably been even better than his 3.71 ERA indicates and looked like one of the best young starters in the league before getting rocked coming off the bereavement list Tuesday night. But the back end of the rotation has become increasingly concerning.

Bubba Chandler’s electric stuff remains obvious, but so are the command problems. His 20 walks are among the highest totals in baseball, and he has completed more than six innings only once all season. Carmen Mlodzinski, meanwhile, has completely lost momentum after a strong start, allowing five runs in back-to-back appearances entering Friday’s matchup with Cincinnati.

That inconsistency is putting enormous pressure on an already-overworked bullpen and exposing an offense that still struggles to consistently produce runs.

And now comes Cincinnati. At 20-11, the Reds suddenly looks like the class of the National League Central while the Pirates have fallen to the bottom of the division at 16-16. For Pittsburgh, this series feels far bigger than a normal early-May matchup.

The Pirates don’t necessarily need perfection from their rotation this weekend. But they desperately need it to look like their biggest strength again.

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