Trade Deadline Looming Will Make Facing Skenes Even Tougher

Diamondbacks vs. Pirates, 1:35 ET

Now is the time of the season where you start to see guys in new uniforms, and get a little sentimental about others wearing the old one for potentially the last time. The trade deadline is always a big deal in the league, even if there are fewer names on the move than in past years. There is still that possibility of a blockbuster trade or something that can make waves for years to come. Consider that one of the best players this year was traded at the deadline (Pete Crow-Armstrong) for a rental player, Javier Baez, in a move that had ripple effects to the league as it is now. Both of the teams in today's contest are likely to sell players away as the Diamondbacks take on the Pirates.

The Diamondbacks reportedly told other teams that they were going to wait about a week to see how the team performed after the All-Star Break to decide what they would do at the deadline. The team has a number of expiring contracts and a bunch of players that teams are interested in. They have hitting (although they just traded Josh Naylor to the Seattle Mariners) in Eugenio Suarez who is probably the best hitter on the market this season. They have a bunch of pitchers that have playoff pedigrees and are pretty reliable options for teams. Today they send one of those pitchers to the mound who's name has floated around, and I think it has disrupted his season. That pitcher is Zac Gallen who has produced very good seasons over the past few years, but hasn't been quite as good as he has been over the past few seasons. Today Gallen brings a 7-11 record, 5.58 ERA, and a 1.37 WHIP. If the season ended today, this would be Gallen's worst season of his career, ending almost two full runs higher than his career ERA. He has given up six earned runs in each of his past two starts. He has been pretty strong against the Pirates in the past, holding them to 22 hits in 90 at-bats.

Jun 25, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen pitches during the first inning against the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images

The Pirates are going to be sellers and they need to basically just build their team for the next few years around today's starter, Paul Skenes. I think they might hinder themselves by trading away one of their better pitchers in Mitch Keller, but there are no guarantees that he is traded. Simply put, this team needs big league ready offense right now. If they had Keller and Skenes in a rotation, and a decent offense, they would at least be playoff hopefuls and I'm not sure I'd want to face them in a short series. Skenes is the best pitcher in baseball right now and arguably the best asset in any organization outside of maybe Shohei Ohtani or Aaron Judge. The Pirates tend to handle Skenes with kid gloves, not letting him work deep into games typically. They did let him go six innings in his last game, but I think it was more to do with the pitch count than anything. It all seems weird with how they handle him - he pitches no more than 80 in some games, and has 100 in others. The bottom line with him is you can predict he will throw five innings and allow two or fewer runs. Diamondback hitters are batting just .192 against him in 26 at-bats.

This is a game that I think the Pirates have a chance to win. Gallen has clearly not been in ideal form and his name is all over the trade deadline as are a number of players. We may see a player pulled and hugs in the dugout during this game. Skenes always gives them a chance to win and I'll back Pittsburgh to win through five in this one. I wouldn't be surprised to see the under here as I do think Gallen should navigate this lineup, but I'm just not backing him until the deadline passes.