Three Big Reasons for Pirates Slump

Pirates Starting Pitcher ERA Post All-Star Break

Chandler is the only pitcher really performing well, with two great outings against the New York Yankees and New York Mets and managing to limit damage early on.

The other four starters have had serious problems with either long innings, high pitch counts too early or giving up home runs.

Pittsburgh also lost Keller for the season with a right arm teres major muscle injury, so they'll have to use a bullpen day going forward, with Carmen Mlodzinski taking on a starting/bulk relief role for that game.

Skenes is still in an almost three-month-long slump, Ashcraft can't stop giving up home runs (11 home runs in his last seven starts) and Jones followed up a great month of July with two poor starts in August.

The Pirates were banking on their rotation to really come through this season, but they simply just haven't and it's costing them dearly.

No One Can Hit a Left-Handed Pitcher

Left-handed pitchers are a premium in baseball and a great major league lefty can easily end up a great ace in anyone's rotation.

The Pirates soon realized this, as they can't hit any southpaw whatsoever, almost chalking up any start from a left-handed pitcher for a loss.

The Pirates have gone 2-9 against southpaws since the All-Star break and are 10-26 on the season against them.

Opposing left-handed starting pitchers combined for a 2.36 ERA against the Pirates in the second half of the season (16 earned runs over 61 innings pitched).

Five southpaws have thrown scoreless outings and two of them have allowed just one run, with the Pirates last scoring multiple runs against a left-handed starting back on July 20, more than three weeks ago.

Left-handed starting pitching, in the last eight starts against the Pirates, has allowed just five earned runs over 48 innings pitched for a 0.94 ERA, winning all but one of those starts.

This enigma for the Pirates is a problem, as they've gone 6-6 against right-handed pitchers, and the massive difference between two is playing a big role in them struggling at the moment.

Offense Isn't Getting it Done

The Pirates were one of, if not the best, offenses in baseball at the All-Star break, leading the major leagues in hits (886), RBI (495) and batting average (.263), while also tied-first in runs scored.

It was a massive turn around from 2025, where they were arguably the worst offensive team in baseball and it looked like they'd take that the rest of the season.

The Pirates haven't had that same success post All-Star break and it's shown in how all of the players have hit following it.

Pirates Players Slash Line in Second Half of 2026

The Pirates hit .263/.342/.426 for an OPS of .768 prior to the All-Star break and have hit .229/.301/.351 for an OPS of .652 following it, a drop of 100 points in OPS.

Pittsburgh has dealt with some injuries, as both catcher Endy Rodríguez and first baseman Spencer Horwitz just returned, first baseman Ryan O'Hearn just suffered a right quad injury and both shortstop Konnor Griffin and Oneil Cruz haven't played yet.

The Pirates have also had a few players struggle, like left fielder Bryan Reynolds and right fielder Esmerlyn Valdez, who have hit well for the most part, but are both in slumps.

Injuries and players struggling on offense have hurt what should be one of the better lineups in baseball and the Pirates really need a change quickly to keep their season alive.