Pirates Slowly Trending in Right Direction

 While the Pittsburgh Pirates are not heading for the playoffs this season, they may certainly and finally be heading in the right direction. When Derek Shelton was fired, the team's record for 2025 was 12-26. He was replaced with Don Kelly and the team woke up after a shaky start.

In the first seven games with Kelly managing, the Bucs lost seven straight. But then play began to turn around. The team is 17-12 since then. In his first 36 games as the Pirates' skipper, Kelly has the team posting a record of 18-20. That's just two games under .500 whereas Shelton was 14 under when he was fired.

Another bright spot is the run production. Under Shelton in the first 26 games, the Pirates only scored 12 runs. The pitching staff surrendered 36. Under Kelly, the Bucs have scored roughly 55 times and given up 55 runs. Under Shelton's run that's an average of less than half a run per game.

Seven times the Buccos were shut out in their first 28 games. Four more games saw them scoring only once. In 38 games since the Pirates have been goose egged just four times. Shelton's team lost seven one run decision games. They won five of such contests. However, they lost nine games by five runs or more.

Contrary to that, with Kelly at the helm, Pittsburgh has lost games by just one run 12 times. They have won nine one-run games. They have lost by five or more just four times. The ace of the staff is of course Paul Skenes. Coming off Rookie of the Year honors, Skenes on the surface does not look like he's having a great season.

Dig deeper into Skenes' numbers, and it tells a different story. With a record of 4-6, his ERA is an astonishing 1.86, which is one of the finest marks in MLB history for someone in his first two seasons.

The bottom line? The team is far more competitive under Don Kelly who is a native Pittsburgher. He needs to be rehired for 2025 no matter how this season ends. We know the Pirates are not playoff bound but if they finish above .500 or anywhere near it, Kelly needs to be commended for that.