"He’d be 11-1 if he was a Yankee or Dodger" - Fans rip Pirates for 'wasting' Paul Skenes’ dominance

With a 2.05 ERA and 85 total strikeouts, young ace Paul Skenes has been one of the shining lights of what has been an otherwise poor campaign for the Pittsburgh Pirates so far. However, despite his best efforts on the mound, Skenes has a 4-6 record to his name, as the team's hitters have often failed to back his strong performances with run support.

That was the case yet again in his latest outing against the Houston Astros on Wednesday, as the Pirates lost 3-0, even though Skenes gave up only three hits and a single earned run in eight innings.

Reacting to Wednesday's events, sportscaster Andrew Fillipponi took to X (formerly Twitter) to vent his frustrations about the Pirates' ineffective offense.

"Paul Skenes with a wry smile as he saunters off the mound. To a standing ovation. LOSING. 8 innings. 9 Ks. 1 run. THIS OFFENSE STINKS," Fillipponi posted.

Reacting to the post, plenty of fans concurred with Filliponi's opinion in the comments, claiming that Skenes should perhaps consider moving elsewhere to have a shot at the kind of success his talent deserves.

"He’d be 11-1 if he was a Yankee or Dodger. They’d give him the Cy Young at the All Star break," a fan commented.

"Just rebrand them the "Pittsburgh Pathetics", because that's what they are. Can't even give this guy minimal run support," another fan posted.

"Is not anyone in the Pirate organization outright ashamed at what they are putting on the field. Once in a lifetime pitcher and no one can hit the ball. It is disgraceful, disgusting and I'm now for selling the Pirates to another market that respects the game of baseball," another fan replied.

"4-6 with an ERA hovering around 2…that’s rough," another fan responded.

"If I am Skenes I demand a trade tomorrow," another fan shared.

"He knows every time he takes the mound it's a complete game shutout or bust!" another fan wrote.

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Paul Skenes 'is a guy you want to build around,' claims Pirates skipper Don Kelly

Speaking about ace Paul Skenes' superb talent on the mound, Pittsburgh Pirates skipper Don Kelly talked about how the 23-year-old is the sort of player the Bucs should look to build their whole team around in the coming years.

"[Players like] Paul Skenes, they don't come around ever,” Kelly said. “I think there's a few pitchers like that. When I was younger, I got to play with [Justin] Verlander and [Max] Scherzer, and that's what you see in Paul, that type of guy.

"If he can continue that, continue to develop, continue to grow. He's a pitcher, not a thrower. Just the way he works, everything. He's definitely a guy you want to build around."

As the season goes on, Pirates fans will be hoping Paul Skenes can continue dominating on the mound, as he has so far.