Paul Skenes is the best starting pitcher in the world. However, the Pittsburgh Pirates haven’t made the playoffs in 10 years. They just lost their opening game against the New York Mets 7-11. Skenes was the number one draft pick of 2023 and was the best pitcher in the league in 2025.

Skenes was hailed as the future and savior of the franchise when he was taken number one overall out of LSU. “We owe a lot to the city. It’s our job to go out and win for the city because this is bigger than all of us,” Skenes said after his disastrous appearance in his game against the Mets. Skenes has shown loyalty to the city and its fans however the repeated failure of the organization to place good players around Skenes is horrific.

The previous most highly touted star in Pittsburgh, Oniel Cruz, was partially responsible for the horrific performance of Skenes and the Pirates on opening day. His defensive struggle during the game was described as “the worst seen in a big league game,” Jomboy Media prominent media member said. Cruz struggled in center field, missing two plays with runners in scoring position allowing four runs to score.

Cruz was once known for his extremely high exit velocity and incredible power, but his defensive struggles have been overshadowed by his defensive struggle. Despite having maybe the strongest infield arm ever, Cruz was removed from the shortstop position because of his inaccuracy and high error rate. He was then moved to center field where he continued to struggle immensely in the field.

Skenes has spent the first two years of his career on a team with terrible owners and a horrific offense. In 2025, they were in the bottom three teams in batting average and were unable to take advantage of their elite pitching and young talent.

Partially the responsibility of the team’s failure falls on the owners. The owners have spent little to no money acquiring top talent free agents. This leads to a Pirates roster with no chance of succeeding and high quality talent wasting away on a terrible roster.