The Pirates pitching staff carried the team last year. They had a team ERA of 3.76 and 1,314 team strikeouts. The rotation was strong and consistent while the offense absolutely struggled.
Paul Skenes won the NL Cy young award last year with just 10 wins. The pitching staff this year has been not as consistent and will be a major question mark going into the 2027 season.
Braxton Ashcraft leads the team with 13 wins and just 5 losses. Ashcraft has been absolutely fantastic for the Bucs but after him
has been more questionable then Pirate fans thought it would be.
Skenes has a 3.79 ERA and 9 wins and you can tell his velocity has gone down since last year. The first step for the Pirates pitching getting back and being dangerous starts with Skenes. They need him to be elite like he was for the first two seasons he was in the league.
With Skenes being dominant, you can build the rest of the rotation around. An elite Skenes with how Ashcraft has been playing this year would be lethal. Plus you get a full year of Jared Jones, that could be once again a top pitching rotation in the league.
I think there are two things the Pirates should do to improve that pitching for next year. The first one is to add a veteran arm, there is a lot of inexperience in the rotation, and I think adding a cheap veteran arm paired up with some younger arms can build a nice dangerous rotation. Chris Bassitt and Lucas Giolito are two veteran pitchers I would love to see them look at in the offseason.
The second thing is I think the Pirates have to have a tough conversation about Mitch Keller. Keller has been a solid pitcher for the last couple of seasons, but he still has three years left on his contract, and it looks like his play has been decreasing. This year ended with an injury, and there is a possibility Pittsburgh could get some young pieces for the farm for Keller.
These moves aren’t massive, but I think if the Pirates make these moves, the pitching rotation will be better and hopefully more consistent in the 2027 season.
