Paul Skenes has a gift to adapt and learn from his mistakes. Case in point: he remembered to smile this year when he won the Cy Young www.mlb.com/pirates/news...

He is the first Pirate to be a unanimous selection

Paul Skenes has become the third Pirate to ever be voted Cy Young

“He’s the perfect human baseball machine.” Paul Skenes is up for the Cy Young tonight. It would be an exclamation mark on perhaps the greatest pitching season in Pirates history. www.mlb.com/pirates/news...

Paul Skenes could become the third Pirate to win a Cy Young tomorrow, but let’s take it a step further. Did he just have the best season for a Pirate pitcher…ever? I took a look for today’s Pirates Beat newsletter, now in your mailbox.

RHP Michael Darrell-Hicks has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Indianapolis

Sure, the Steelers haven’t acquired the WR2 they needed for two years, but they can* use those day 3 picks to trade up for the third best QB in a class that has seen basically every preseason favorite’s stock fall. * - they can’t use those picks to move up

The Pirates made quite a few roster moves, including selecting the contract of one of their top reliever prospects www.mlb.com/pirates/news...

Sources: Pirates are selecting the contract of RHP Ryan Harbin. Harbin mixes a four-seamer that hits triple digits w/ a high spin slider and a splitter that gets a ton of drop. Heard the word “disgusting” to describe his stuff multiple times this season. Should be in bullpen mix

We’ve got Pirates roster moves

The Tigers have claimed RHP Jack Little off waivers from the Pirates. More roster announcements coming

The Tigers have claimed RHP Jack Little off waivers from the Pirates. More roster announcements coming

The Spring schedule is here! See you in Bradenton. ⚾️🌴

PiratesFest will be Jan. 24 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center

There’s still time if you haven’t yet

You may want to sit down for this shocker, but Paul Skenes is a finalist for the Cy Young www.mlb.com/pirates/news...

It’s been a minute since I posted an All-Bucco grid

Konnor Griffin has won a Minor League Gold Glove at shortstop

Tommy Pham and Jared Triolo were nominated for Gold Gloves, but did not win. Ke’Bryan Hayes won at third base. Triolo graded better defensively than he did in his Gold Glove campaign in 2024, fwiw

Yeah, this game did nothing to improve my optimism for the rest of the year. Defense is still completely reliant on turnovers and splash plays that the league’s best teams won’t commit. Offense didn’t move the ball enough. It’s a win that will get them to 9-8/10-7 and no further.

So. Are we ready to talk about this lead?

Tomorrow we get Game 7. Haymakers have been traded all series. At least half a dozen future Hall of Famers will suit up. This has the makings of an all-timer. I’d recommend taking time to watch it.

Let’s go inside the mind of George Springer

Ohtani was just bullied by the splitter his first time up. I really don’t get giving a free pass in the third. That split might be the best matchup you have for him all day

Pirates have claimed RHP Dugan Darnell off waivers from the Rockies and placed him on the 60 day injured list. Darnell, 28, pitched to a 3.86 ERA in 11 2/3 MLB innings and a 3.19 in 53 2/3 AAA innings. Four-seamer averaged 93.7 mph, mixed in a slider and a splitter that kills spin.

John Baker and the Pirates have agreed to mutually part ways, per source. Baker joined the organization in 2020 as the director of coaching and player development and moved to a role overseeing the performance team last year.

Pirate pitchers requested a change in pitching coaches this winter, thinking they could reach another level. On Monday, the Pirates hired a pitching coach from the team with the best ERA over the last four years. www.mlb.com/pirates/news...

The Pirates are hiring Bill Murphy as their new pitching coach, source confirms. Chandler Rome of @theathletic.com had it first. Story to come.

This was 200-something yards of Boswell field goals away from being a blowout. The problem isn’t the penalties, the turnovers, the run defense or whatever the scapegoat will be. It’s that defensive coaching is so far behind modern offenses, especially with in-game adjustments.

I mean, Yesavage was recently a Minor leaguer

Jays in 5

It’s a pivotal winter for the Pirates. Whether or not they keep Mitch Keller is going to be one of the decisions that defines it. I looked at some cases for and against trading their All-Star pitcher: www.mlb.com/pirates/news...

2026 is going to be a pivotal year for Oneil Cruz. He’s acknowledged he can play better. So what goes into that? I took a look at three keys for him for today’s Pirates Beat newsletter. The full newsletter is in your inbox, and here’s a link to read more: www.mlb.com/pirates/news...

After finishing last in ‘24, the Blue Jays had a choice of either rebuilding, standing pat or betting on their elite talent in Vlad. They added Scherzer, Santander, Hoffman, Gimenez, Bieber, because they know elite talents are rare and windows are short. They deserve this moment

This week’s All-Bucco grids

One game away from retiring this bad boy

And there’s the annual crapping of the bed on a national stage. One thing for it to be weather like Cleveland or against a great coach like Belichick. Just incompetence. But at least Tomlin got to be cute and dunked on the Browns before being embarrassed by the QB they cast off.

Congrats to Tommy Pham on being named a Rawlings Sports Gold Glove Award finalist!

Congrats Jared Triolo on your second Rawlings Gold Glove nomination!

The Pirates have claimed outfielder Will Robertson off waivers from the White Sox. Robertson, 27, hit 20 home runs with a .958 OPS in 89 games in Triple-A. He slashed .129/.173/.143 in 75 MLB PAs. Ryan Kreidler has been designated for assignment to make room on the roster.

Mariners in 6, Brewers in 7

One more for the road

When you advance because of great pitching, head’s up base running, clutch pinch-hitting and simply outlasting your opponent, and not because you bunted three times

Bet the Tigers wish they had another out with a runner in scoring position. Never. Bunt.

A.J. Pierzynski had 28 sacrifice bunts in his 19 year career and no fewer than 623 references to bunting tonight

M’s are such a great story. It will be such a shame if their season ends because Wilson doesn’t trust his players

Thoughts and prayers to the guy I passed on the way to the clubhouse who was just getting his ass chewed out by his girl during “Go Cubs Go.”

Pat Murphy pressers hit different

So the Pirates reporter was sent to cover Priester vs. Taillon?

Word for word. Bar for bar.