It is not often that, at this point in my life, I get angry at the Pittsburgh Pirates—I know what to expect from them. Now, I get frustrated, I get annoyed, and I get sad. 

However, watching the Pirates’ offense this season has actually angered me, especially given the quality of the pitching provided by the starting rotation. I harp on this almost every week, but nothing has really changed. 

The Buccos played seven games last week: three against the Marlins and four against the Cubs. They went 2-1 against the former and 1-3 against the latter. All four games against Chicago were decided by one run, as was the lone loss to Miami. That is five one-run games in a week, four of which resulted in losses. 

In the series against the Cubs, the Pirates amassed a meager seven runs over four games, resulting in an average of 1.75 runs per game over that stretch. They only allowed nine runs in that span, just 2.25 runs per game. The Pirates went 1-3 despite the following lines from starting pitchers:

• Andrew Heaney: 6 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 7 K, loss
• Paul Skenes: 5 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, no decision
• Mike Burrows: 5.1 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 8 K, no decision
• Mitch Keller: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, no decision

Two quality starts (Heaney and Keller), a scoreless outing, and 5.1 innings of one-run ball from your fifth starter (Burrows), and you only win one game against a Chicago pitching staff that has been decimated by injuries. Their top two starters (Shōta Imanaga and Justin Steele) are out long-term due to injuries, but the Pirates could not even make contact with a 13-year old’s fastball at this point. 

In the month of June, the team has played 14 games. They have scored two or fewer runs in ten of those games. For the season, they are dead-last in runs per game (3.18), and total bases per game (11.08), third-worst in batting average (.226), and second-worst in OPS (.640). 

The pitching is doing all they can to mitigate this ineptitude, ranking sixth in opposing batting average (.230), and seventh in opposing total bases per game (12.11) and opposing OPS (.664). However, these efforts have proven to be futile, as the team is fifteen games below .500, sitting at 29-44. 

At this point, what do you do? Yesterday, the Pirates had seven players in their lineup with an OPS below .700. Conversely, the Cubs had three players that failed to meet that threshold. Maybe it is unfair to compare the Pirates to one of the best teams in baseball, but this is a division opponent that they held to nine runs over four games despite having one of the more potent offenses in baseball. 

If any of you that reads this can play left field, let Ben Cherington know. The team needs you, and you cannot be worse than the absolute dregs that the organization currently employs.