Coming into the 2024 season, the NL East was expected to be a two-team race. The Atlanta Braves were expected to have an edge with the Philadelphia Phillies fighting for a title but well in the hunt for a Wild Card. Over the first six weeks of the season, it is clear that the Phillies… read more

Lost in all the hoopla over the Major League debut of pitcher Paul Skenes on Saturday was the fact that the Pirates didn’t seem to have much else going for them. The Buccos went into Saturday’s game losers of 20 of their previous 28. Yes, they did get the win on Paul Skenes Day (just… read more

There is no party like a Pittsburgh Pirates party, at least that’s what pitching phenom Paul Skenes is likely thinking after making his much-anticipated MLB debut vs. the Cubs at PNC Park on Saturday afternoon. How anticipated was the debut for Skenes, the number-one overall pick in the 2023 amateur draft? Not only did he… read more

Is my headline a bit hyperbolic? I don’t think it is. Can you name a more anticipated debut for one of Pittsburgh’s professional athletes? I guess you can make a case for the NHL debut of Penguins center, Mario Lemieux, on October 11, 1984, against the Bruins at the old Boston Garden. Like Skenes, Lemieux… read more

The Pittsburgh Pirates have finally made the decision. They are calling up Paul Skenes to make his MLB debut on Saturday against the Chicago Cubs. The Pirates selected the big right-hander out of LSU with the first-overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft. After much speculation about whether Skenes would make the Opening Day roster,… read more

Mitch Keller pitched his second-career complete game, as the Pirates defeated the Angeles, 4-1, at PNC Park on Monday evening. Keller threw 109 pitches–including 75 for strikes–and allowed five hits and one walk while striking out five Los Angeles batters on the night. It was the first complete game in almost exactly one year for… read more

Former Cy Young finalist and Blue Jays ace starter Alek Manoah Hasn’t pitched for Toronto since August of last year, after struggling throughout the season. After coming off of a dominant 2022 season, in 2023 we saw a heavy regression from Manoah where he would string multiple outings with many runs given up that ultimately… read more

The Pittsburgh Pirates rarely get to be the top sports story in Pittsburgh for even a summer. This is thanks to an almost unhealthy obsession with the Steelers, along with the Penguins winning five Stanley Cups since 1991. But 2024 could have been the exception. The Steelers have made a lot of exciting moves off… read more

It is pretty remarkable that the Chicago Cubs are 19-13 with all of the injuries they have had in the first month of the season. Three of the five pitchers that were scheduled to be in their starting rotation at the beginning of the season have missed multiple starts. They have also been without two… read more

If you thought the Pirates would get well going up against a lame-duck (and rather lame) A’s team in Oakland, California, this week, think again. Pittsburgh was swept by the Athletics in a three-game series at the Oakland Coliseum. The Buccos have now lost 16 of their last 21 games. Included in that stretch is… read more