Pirates social media account gets roasted for Paul Skenes post after loss to Phillies

The Pittsburgh Pirates have lost five of their last six games, most recently coming off a three-game sweep at the hands of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Reigning National League Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes was his usual dominant self on the mound for the Pirates in Sunday's series finale in Philadelphia, striking out nine and allowing just three hits over eight innings, but it still wasn't enough. The Phillies ended up scoring a run on a fielder's choice in the fourth inning, and that proved to be all they would need to secure the 1-0 win.

After the game, the Pirates' social media team posted an accurate but incredibly tone deaf graphic celebrating Skenes' first career complete game in the big leagues.

Needless to say, it wasn't well received.

"This post is embarrassing," one fan wrote in response to the Pirates' post on X. "As a lifelong Pirates fan, I can credibly say that the current iteration of the franchise doesn't deserver Skenes. I hope he asks for a trade today."

"Please trade [Skenes]," wrote another. "Any other team can surely push across a run or two every now and then."

"I don't want [Skenes] to go, but as a Pirates fan, I generally feel bad for him," another fan replied. "Our team can't hit and he is taking the losses for it."

These were just three of the hundreds of comments from exasperated fans bemoaning the fact that Pirates owner Bob Nutting and general manager Ben Cherington have done little, if anything, to form a winning team around a once-in-a-generation talent like Skenes. He has a 2.44 ERA and has been every bit the ace he was expected to be this season, but he carries a 3-5 record on a team that has gone 3-7 in his starts in 2025.

Pirates' 1-0 loss to Phillies shows that even Paul Skenes can't save them

With a Rookie of the Year Award and a third-place finish in the NL Cy Young Award voting, Skenes was the story of the 2024 MLB season. This year, however, the novelty has worn off, and the focus has shifted away from Skenes' dominance and toward the offensive ineptitude of the team around him.

Skenes keeps dominating, but Pittsburgh keeps losing. The longer this continues, the more evident it becomes that even he can't save a team whose roster is constructed as poorly as this one.

Congratulatory social media posts aren't going to help this team win. If the Pirates really wanted to celebrate the accomplishments of their ace, their ownership and front office would actually invest in talent to put around him.

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