Pirates are failing again, even after making half-hearted attempt to compete

The loss resulted in the Pirates losing their sixth consecutive series, dropping them to four games below .500 and now has them five-and-a-half games out of a National League wild-card spot with five teams between them and the third wild-card spot. They are also only 8-15 since the All-Star break, and what seemed to be a promising season is now rapidly slipping away. 

In some ways, it only makes the team's attempts to compete this season even more frustrating because nothing about it was serious. 

Pirates season is slipping away, even after half-hearted attempt to compete

The thing about this particular failure of a Pirates season is that when it began there were some real reasons for promise and optimism.

They were bringing back a pitching staff that had the fifth-best ERA in baseball in 2025, led by the game's best young pitcher in Paul Skenes.

They attempted to address the offensive shortcomings by acquiring second baseman Brandon Lowe in a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays, and then signed Ryan O'Hearn and Marcell Ozuna in free agency. O'Hearn's deal was significant because it was the first multi-year free agent contract the Pirates had signed in a decade. 

Along with that, they had the No. 1 prospect in baseball on the verge of making his debut in Konnor Griffin, and did what many thought was going to be unthinkable and signed him to a nine-year contract as soon as he reached the big leagues. 

There was some hope.

And for a while, the team played like it and hung around in the playoff race through the All-Star break.

But as the season progressed, a lot of things started to go wrong. 

Injuries mounted with Griffin, O'Hearn, Spencer Horwitz and Oneil Cruz. 

The pitching staff completely imploded on itself as nearly every starting pitcher regressed from where they were a year ago, including most notably, Skenes. 

The bullpen, which was always a big wild card at the start of the season, was unimaginably bad through the first half of the season. 

The front office and ownership can not be blamed for injuries, but the injuries are only a part of the story here for this team, while also illustrating just how half-hearted this attempt to compete actually was.

While the Pirates spent a lot of money this offseason by Pirates standards, they remain one of the lowest-payroll teams in the league. They also entered the season with serious flaws at a lot of positions and with a lot of warts all over their roster. 

The lack of a proven third baseman resulted in several players having to play out of position, resulting in poor defense all season. 

The starting rotation looked good on paper, but there was zero organizational depth to offer any sort of a safety net in the event of injury or regression (both of which happened). 

They entered the season with no proven arms in the bullpen, and then refused to act throughout the first half while it consistently blew winnable games. 

They finally addressed the latter weakness at the trade deadline with moves for Luke Weaver, Lake Bachar, Kirby Yates and Doval, but it's looking like a case of too little, too late. 

Too little, too late, in a season where too little was done from the start. They did something to keep people off their backs and silence some criticism. 

They did enough to stay somewhat competitive. 

But the warts and half-measures are starting to be exposed. Now, yet another second-half collapse seems to be starting, while another losing season and another year without the postseason seem to be becoming a reality.