Pittsburgh Pirates: Team in Dire Need of Starting Pitching, More Takeaways From Series Loss

The Pirates are in dire need of more starting pitching

It's not exactly breaking news to say the Pirates need more starting pitching. I mean, what baseball team doesn't? That said, the current state of the Pirate starting rotation is just flat out bad and unaceptable.

Mitch Keller started for the team in game two of the series on Friday night and pitched a gem. Keller pitched 8 scoreless innings in a 2-1 Pirate victory. Outside of Keller's start, things went very awry for Pirate starting pitching.

Rob Zastryzny worked as an opener for the Pirates in the series opener and Colin Selby in game three. Zastryzny pitched a scoreless 1st inning and Selby fired 2 scoreless innings. Andre Jackson followed Zastryzny by allowing just 2 runs in 6 innings pitched, but Osvaldo Bido was hit hard in his attempt to be the bulk guy on Saturday.

Using an opener on occasion is fine. In some instances it can be a good strategy for a team to deploy. However, the Pirates are leaning on it far too often right now. Especially when your options for bulk pitchers are the likes of Jackson, Bido, and Thomas Hatch.

Bailey Falter started on Sunday and struggled on his way to a Pirate loss. Falter pitched 4.2 innings, allowing 6 runs on seven hits, a walk, a home run, and three strikeouts, raising his ERA on the season to 5.04.

This offseason Ben Cherington needs to be very active in his pursuit of starting pitching help.