As Paul Skenes stepped in front of a group of reporters at PNC Park this afternoon, he shared that he wasn't surprised that Derek Shelton was fired yesterday afternoon and not because of what the Pirates' former manager has done this year but how the team has performed.
"We’re 12-26," Skenes said. "Someone’s got to be held accountable and unfortunately right now, it’s him. That’s just kind of how it goes but I don’t know that it fixes the root of the issue which is, we need to play better."
Through their first 38 games, the Pirates sit at the bottom of the National League Central and have produced one of the worst offenses in baseball with a .219 batting average that ranks 27th in Major League Baseball and a .625 OPS that ranks 28th. They've also committed the second-most errors (27) and have produced the ninth-worst ERA (4.31).
On top of that, the Pirates have lost their last seven games and nine of their last 10 along with being shutout three times during that same time frame. To turn this season around, Skenes, Andrew McCutchen and Jared Triolo all said they need to find a way to play better moving forward.
"The only thing I can focus on is myself, doing my job and whatever I can so something like that doesn't ever happen again. That's all I'm trying to focus on," McCutchen said. "Hopefully the guys in the clubhouse are doing the same thing, so collectively we can change things for ourselves so we're not having to go through this again. This season has been what it's been so far. Obviously it hasn't gone the way we wanted it to go, so if we want to change that, we have to go out, do our job and try to win the game we're playing each day."
"We've just got to win games. We need to score runs and we need to win games. That's it," Triolo added.
As the Pirates get set to begin a three-game set with the Braves tonight, they are 14 games under .500, are on track to win just 51 games and have produced the the fifth-worst run differential (-57) in all of Major League Baseball.
With 124 games remaining this season, the Pirates would have to go 69-55 to finish at .500. They'd have to go 64-60 to match their win total from a year ago. So, with that type of challenge in front of them, is this season still salvageable for the Pirates?
"I think that’s one thing that we need to figure out as a group, is what our goal is for the season and figure out how to get there," Skenes said. "Salvageable – what does that mean? I’m not saying that for the media, but what does it mean in the locker room, too? If nothing else, we better grow, because if we don’t grow then it’s a completely lost season. Just gotta keep going and understand the urgency of where we’re at right now.”
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THE ASYLUM
Greg Macafee
4:31 pm - 05.09.2025NORTH SHORESkenes: 'If nothing else, we better grow'
As Paul Skenes stepped in front of a group of reporters at PNC Park this afternoon, he shared that he wasn't surprised that Derek Shelton was fired yesterday afternoon and not because of what the Pirates' former manager has done this year but how the team has performed.
"We’re 12-26," Skenes said. "Someone’s got to be held accountable and unfortunately right now, it’s him. That’s just kind of how it goes but I don’t know that it fixes the root of the issue which is, we need to play better."
Through their first 38 games, the Pirates sit at the bottom of the National League Central and have produced one of the worst offenses in baseball with a .219 batting average that ranks 27th in Major League Baseball and a .625 OPS that ranks 28th. They've also committed the second-most errors (27) and have produced the ninth-worst ERA (4.31).
On top of that, the Pirates have lost their last seven games and nine of their last 10 along with being shutout three times during that same time frame. To turn this season around, Skenes, Andrew McCutchen and Jared Triolo all said they need to find a way to play better moving forward.
"The only thing I can focus on is myself, doing my job and whatever I can so something like that doesn't ever happen again. That's all I'm trying to focus on," McCutchen said. "Hopefully the guys in the clubhouse are doing the same thing, so collectively we can change things for ourselves so we're not having to go through this again. This season has been what it's been so far. Obviously it hasn't gone the way we wanted it to go, so if we want to change that, we have to go out, do our job and try to win the game we're playing each day."
"We've just got to win games. We need to score runs and we need to win games. That's it," Triolo added.
As the Pirates get set to begin a three-game set with the Braves tonight, they are 14 games under .500, are on track to win just 51 games and have produced the the fifth-worst run differential (-57) in all of Major League Baseball.
With 124 games remaining this season, the Pirates would have to go 69-55 to finish at .500. They'd have to go 64-60 to match their win total from a year ago. So, with that type of challenge in front of them, is this season still salvageable for the Pirates?
"I think that’s one thing that we need to figure out as a group, is what our goal is for the season and figure out how to get there," Skenes said. "Salvageable – what does that mean? I’m not saying that for the media, but what does it mean in the locker room, too? If nothing else, we better grow, because if we don’t grow then it’s a completely lost season. Just gotta keep going and understand the urgency of where we’re at right now.”
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