Wild Stat Shows How Badly The Pirates Are Wasting The Talent Of Paul Skenes

Paul Skenes has the potential to be the best pitcher of his generation, and the Pittsburgh Pirates are absolutely wasting his talent.

Earlier Sunday, the Bucs were playing their in-state rivals, the Philadelphia Phillies. Skenes absolutely cooked on the mound, holding a lethal Phillies lineup to just one run over eight innings, while surrendering just eight hits and recording nine strikeouts. 

My goodness.

He even made Bryce Harper look like a JV player in one of his at-bats.

I’m sure there are 29 other MLB teams right now who would move mountains to bring this dude into their clubhouse. Frankly, that would be in Skenes’ best interest at this rate.

Despite a stellar outing, the Pirates lost that game because they got shutout for nine full innings. It’s yet another masterpiece from Skenes that will mean nothing because the bats went MIA.

Evidently, it's not the first time the Pirates lineup has called in sick when Skenes has been on the mound. The right-hander has made 33 starts for Pittsburgh in his young pitching career, and he is 14-8 with 11 no-decisions. In six of those games, Skenes has surrendered one or zero runs - and Pittsburgh still found a way to lose.

I mean, come on. How can you be that pathetic when your star pitcher is dealing from the bump that many times?

Skenes doesn't become a free agent until 2029, but there are people calling him to be traded already. Frankly, it might be best for both parties, because the Pirates aren’t getting any better and Skenes is on an insane track.

The only questions are when it happens, and which team lands the generational talent.