Pirates Slide In Latest MLB Power Rankings, Playoff Chances Dicey originally appeared on SportsNet Pittsburgh.
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As MLB enters the dog days of summer, the league is still trying to figure out what to make of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Yes, they have impressed so far this season, sitting at 39-39 entering play Monday. But the Pirates lost their weekend series in Denver against the Colorado Rockies.
As a result, the club slipped from No. 12 to No. 14 in MLB.com’s latest Power Rankings.
“Only Paul Skenes could have a stretch where he gives up two runs or more in three straight starts and raises his ERA to 2.86 and have it be as bad as we’ve ever seen him,” MLB.com’s Will Leitch writes. “No one with the Pirates is worried. Amazingly, the Pirates have lost seven straight Skenes starts.
“‘It just speaks to the talent he’s got, and expectations that are a little bit elevated for him,'” manager Don Kelly said.
The Pirates, just 4-6 in their last 10 games, sit in fourth place in the National League Central, 8.5 games behind the first-place Milwaukee Brewers. But Pittsburgh is just 1.5 games back in the NL Wild Card standings.
As a result, FanGraphs gives the Pirates a 37.8% chance of qualifying for the playoffs for the first time since 2015.
Of course, Pirates fans know the club’s postseason odds rest squarely on the throwing shoulder of Skenes, who is the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner. But the right-hander is just 6-7 this season and ranks ninth in the NL with a 2.86 ERA.
Skenes led the majors last year with a 1.97 ERA and posted a 1.96 ERA in 2024 when he won National League Rookie of the Year.
The 24-year-old ace returns to the mound Friday when the Pirates welcome the Cincinnati Reds to PNC Park.
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