Talking Baseball: Vol. 5

The clock has started for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The 2024 Pittsburgh Pirates have somehow turned out to be infinitely more frustrating than I could have ever possibly imagined when the season began.

First, there is the poor roster construction and mismanagement from general manager Ben Cherington that has seen them throw significant parts of their limited budget away on players that are giving them absolutely nothing (looking at you Rowdy Tellez and Aroldis Chapman).

Then there is the whole missed opportunity feeling that comes from the fact they play in a division without a truly dominant team that is there for the taking with just a little bit of serious effort and better allocation of resources.

But then there is also the fact they actually have a couple of pieces that are going to rope me back in, make me develop some long-term hope, and set me up for the special brand of disappointment that only the Pirates can provide.

I am talking specifically about the starting pitching trio of Paul Skenes, Jared Jones and Mitch Keller.

These are the guys that might actually represent a very real light at the end of the tunnel. While the latter two are still in the very early stages of their careers they are the type of pitchers that can completely change a franchise and raise the bar for what it can achieve.

They are not only potential ace-level pitchers, they are also on an identical timeline that has them reaching the Major Leagues at the same time and immediately stepping into the league and performing at a high level. The only chance the Pirates ever have at getting starting pitchers with this type of ceiling is to draft and develop them through their own system. They are not signing players like this in free agency. They are not trading for players like this (because nobody is). They need to find them themselves. And that is not easy. But somehow the Pirates have put themselves in a position where two of them are reaching the Major Leagues at the same time and doing something few Pirates prospects have ever done — make an immediate, dominant inpact.

Their presence — and this assumes they continue on the early trajectory they have shown — also bumps Keller down into a spot in the rotation where he is perhaps best suited to pitch out of in the middle of it. He is miscast as an ace. But if he is your No. 3 starter behind two 100 mph badasses? Well, that is the foundation of a potential championship caliber rotation.

But as we are seeing in the early parts of their careers, they can not do it alone. They need help. A lot of it. That puts the pressure firmly on management to take advantage of this very specific window that is now finally starting to inch its way open.