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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/pirates-news-paul-skenes-pitching-gem-assessment');   ga('set', 'title', 'Pirates star Paul Skenes’ latest pitching gem draws honest assessment from ex-player');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Pirates-news-Why-Paul-Skenes-couldnt-pass-up-World-Baseball-Classic-honor.jpg"><figcaption>Brad Penner-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Pirates star Paul Skenes’ latest pitching gem draws honest assessment from ex-player</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-11T07:28:07-07:00">September 11th, 7:28am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-11T07:28:07-07:00">September 11th, 7:28am</time><address><a href="https://www.facebook.com/joey.mistretta/" rel="facebook">Joey Mistretta</a>Joey Mistretta is a Dallas Mavericks beat reporter, Dallas Wings beat reporter and lead MLB editor for ClutchPoints. He is originally from Lake Arrowhead, California. Mistretta graduated from Biola University with a degree in broadcast journalism.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">MLB</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Pittsburgh Pirates lost to the Baltimore Orioles by a final score of 2-1 on Wednesday. Nevertheless, Paul Skenes pitched well once again. The right-handed hurler struck out eight Orioles over five scoreless innings while allowing no walks. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/pirates-news-pittsburgh-manager-explains-paul-skenes-escapes-trouble">Skenes is in the middle of a tremendous season</a> to say the least.</p><p>Former MLB player Xavier Scruggs <a href="https://x.com/MLBNetworkRadio/status/1966139124022182080" rel="noopener">addressed</a> Skenes’ performance following Wednesday’s game, via MLB Network Radio.</p><p>“Just the dominance that we’ve seen with Paul Skenes, reaching now 200 strikeouts,” Scruggs said. “Only eight Pirates players in history, starters, have reached 200 strikeouts. I think to see that in his second full season just reminds us of the dominance, but also the understanding of what he’s doing from a pitching standpoint. The sequencing, the tunneling of his stuff, the adding of pitches, the ability to command the strike zone with such high velocity.”</p><p>Paul Skenes has established himself as a true National League Cy Young candidate. The 23-year-old has pitched to a league leading 1.92 ERA across 30 starts. Skenes also leads the league with 203 strikeouts.</p><p>After winning the Rookie of the Year and finishing third in NL Cy Young voting a season ago, Skenes seems like a legitimate candidate to win the Cy Young this year.</p><p>“I know we talk a lot about his ability, but I think a lot of it, too, is the mental capacity in which… We walked to him early on in spring training about wanting to get incrementally better each start,” Scruggs continued. “I know he didn’t go deep in this one, they’re trying to hold him back a little bit, save some of those bullets. But what we’ve seen from him this season is another example of what the Pirates have to look forward to with arguably the best arm in all of Major League Baseball.”</p><p>The Pirates are out of postseason contention. Pittsburgh is hoping to build a contending roster around Paul Skenes sooner rather than later. At the moment, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/pirates-news-paul-skenes-drops-truth-bomb-after-dodgers-sweep-we-got-nothing-to-lose">Pirates will try to play the role of spoiler</a> against contending ball clubs.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Pirates star Paul Skenes’ latest pitching gem draws honest assessment from ex-player

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/pirates-news-paul-skenes-threw-64-pitches-dominant-outing');   ga('set', 'title', 'Why Pirates’ Paul Skenes only threw 64 pitches despite dominant outing');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Pirates-ace-Paul-Skenes-pitches-at-ASG.jpg"><figcaption>Brett Davis-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Why Pirates’ Paul Skenes only threw 64 pitches despite dominant outing</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-11T07:26:12-07:00">September 11th, 7:26am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-11T07:26:12-07:00">September 11th, 7:26am</time><address><a>Christopher Hennessy</a>Christopher Hennessy is a Senior Editor at ClutchPoints, with expertise in MLB, NHL and golf. Chris graduated with a journalism degree from Fordham University in 2022. He has also worked at Spectrum News One in Albany, New York and with The Hockey Writers as a New York Islanders writer. Chris is originally from Connecticut and is a lifelong New York Yankees, Islanders, and Jets fan.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">MLB</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Pittsburgh Pirates lost to the Baltimore Orioles 2-1 in ten innings on Wednesday night. The Buccos picked up their 82nd loss on the same night their ace put together another dominant outing. But the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/pirates-news-paul-skenes-drops-truth-bomb-after-dodgers-sweep-we-got-nothing-to-lose">Pirates had Paul Skenes on a pitch count</a>, stopping him at 64 pitches despite allowing two hits and no runs in five innings. Skenes spoke with Ian Nicholas Quillen of the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/paul-skenes-strikeouts-pirates-orioles-557bd52c847cec94569ce0c122b4d701" rel="noopener">about the pitch count.</a></p><p>“The main goal that I’ve had coming into the past two years is making every start,” Skenes said. “There are opportunities to give and take throughout the season, and tonight was kind of one of those. I probably needed it, to be honest.”</p><p>The Pirates ace continued, “I pitched in September last year, but it was different. Throwing 160 innings with 27 of them in the minors, it’s not the same as throwing 160 innings all in the big leagues.”</p><p>The Pirates limited Skenes’ pitch count last September as well. He threw 73 pitches in his penultimate start and 23 in just two innings in his final start. Now,<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/pirates-news-paul-skenes-pick-nl-cy-young-award"> with the National League Cy Young award on the line</a>, they are limiting his pitches once again. Skenes took his 64 pitches and dominated the Orioles on Wednesday night.</p><p>The Pirates have 16 games left in the season, so Skenes could get four more starts if they keep the rotation in order. He has 22 innings to go until reaching 200 on the season, and already has 200 strikeouts and a sub-2.00 ERA. Even with a limited September, Skenes could put together a jaw-dropping stat line in just his second season.</p><p>The Pirates have been walked-off by the Orioles in both games to start the three-game set. They look to salvage the final game on Thursday afternoon at Camden Yards. Skenes’ next start is slated for Monday at home against the Chicago Cubs.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Why Pirates’ Paul Skenes only threw 64 pitches despite dominant outing

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/milwaukee-brewers/brewers-news-quinn-priester-breaks-record-11th-straight-win');   ga('set', 'title', 'Brewers’ Quinn Priester breaks franchise record with 11th-straight win');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Milwaukee-Brewers-starting-pitcher-Quinn-Priester.jpg"><figcaption>Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Brewers’ Quinn Priester breaks franchise record with 11th-straight win</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-05T19:54:06-07:00">September 5th, 7:54pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-05T19:54:06-07:00">September 5th, 7:54pm</time><address><a>Abdullah Imran</a>Abdullah Imran works as an Associate Editor for All Sports at ClutchPoints. He’s been a sports fan his entire life and enjoys writing about every sport. He has spent three years in sports journalism and loves analyzing games. In his free time, he very much enjoys binge-watching shows and playing video games.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Milwaukee Brewers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Milwaukee Brewers continued their dominant season on Friday, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-2 at PNC Park behind a seven-inning performance from <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/milwaukee-brewers/brewers-news-quinn-priester-2025-first-shutting-down-dodgers">Quinn Priester, who set a franchise record</a> with his 11th consecutive winning decision.</p><p>Priester (12-2) allowed two runs on six hits, striking out six and walking one, rallying from a shaky start to retire the final 11 batters he faced in a 96-pitch outing. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/milwaukee-brewers/brewers-news-real-reason-milwaukee-trade-quinn-priester">Priester, acquired from the Boston Red Sox</a> on April 7, was originally the Pirates’ first-round pick in 2019. Since joining Milwaukee, he has posted a 3.25 ERA across 26 games, 21 starts.</p><p>The Brewers have now won each of the last 17 games in which Priester has pitched, including 14 starts and three bulk relief appearances dating back to May 30. This surpasses the previous franchise mark <a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/quinn-priester-wins-11th-straight-decision-with-brewers" rel="noopener">of 10 consecutive wins</a> in a season, held jointly by Chris Bosio and Cal Eldred in 1992, per Adam McCalvy of MLB.com.</p><p>Friday’s win was far from easy. Milwaukee went 3-for-20 with runners in scoring position through most of the night but overcame the deficit with timely hitting.</p><p>Jake Bauers delivered the game’s decisive blow with a two-run single off Carmen Mlodzinski in the sixth, snapping a streak of 22 hitless at-bats with RISP that stretched back to the Brewers’ win over Philadelphia.</p><p>Brice Turang added an RBI single in the eighth, and a combination of Pirates errors and Andrew Vaughn’s contribution in the ninth accounted for the fifth run. Abner Uribe closed the game with a perfect ninth for his fifth save of the season.</p><p>The Brewers achieved the victory despite <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/milwaukee-brewers/brewers-news-pat-murphy-christian-yelich-plan-injury-absence">missing star outfielder Christian Yelich</a> and facing injuries in the bullpen, which has seen multiple pitchers, including Trevor Megill, Shelby Miller, Grant Anderson, DL Hall, and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/milwaukee-brewers/brewers-news-milwaukee-reliever-nick-mears-il-back-injury">Nick Mears, on the injured list</a>. Right-hander Carlos Rodriguez was recalled from AAA Nashville to bolster relief options.</p><p>Milwaukee’s offensive leaders on the night included Bauers, Turang, and William Contreras, each with two hits, while the Pirates’ Johan Oviedo allowed just one unearned run over five innings in his fifth start since returning from Tommy John surgery.</p><p>The Brewers have improved to 31-11 in their last 42 road games, ending the Pirates’ seven-game home winning streak and maintaining a 5½-game lead in the NL Central over the Chicago Cubs with 20 games remaining.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Brewers’ Quinn Priester breaks franchise record with 11th-straight win

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/2-free-agents-pirates-must-pursue-mlb-offseason');   ga('set', 'title', '2 free agents Pirates must pursue in offseason');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/780139523-bo-bichette.jpg"></figure><h1>2 free agents Pirates must pursue in offseason</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-05T12:30:36-07:00">September 5th, 12:30pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-05T12:30:36-07:00">September 5th, 12:30pm</time><address><a>Bailey Bassett</a>Bailey Bassett is a sports writer from Denver, Colorado, covering major sports events and athlete backgrounds at ClutchPoints. He has experience covering and writing on high school, collegiate, and professional sports.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Mini-Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/mlb-stories/ranking-50-best-mlb-players-2025-season">Pittsburgh Pirates have arguably the best player in baseball</a>. That is, of course, Paul Skenes. The former No. 1 overall pick has quickly taken over baseball. Unfortunately, it hasn’t led to many wins during his young career, as there is next to no notable talent around him on the Pirates roster.</p><p>The team can’t afford not to improve. Not only would future low-win seasons waste Skenes’ prime, but they would risk frustrating the star, which could lead to him jumping ship. Because of that, the Pirates need to be aggressive in free agency this upcoming offseason. So, which impending free agents should the Pirates sign to jumpstart their rebuild?</p><h2><b>Bo Bichette</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/780134533-bo-bichette-crossing-home.jpg"><figcaption>Katie Stratman-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The entirety of the Pirates’ offense has been a disaster this season. Almost every position in the team’s lineup could use an upgrade. One of the weakest position groups on the team is shortstop. Isiah Kiner-Falefa started the most games at the position, but he has only been able to belt one home run all season long. Jared Triolo didn’t add much more offense production, as he has batted just .226 this season.</p><p>One of the best shortstops in MLB is set to hit the open market, so the Pirates should go all in on making Bo Bichette their franchise player on offense. Bichette has hit 18 home runs for the Toronto Blue Jays this year. He also leads the American League in hits (177) and doubles (42). Bichette has played a key part in turning the Blue Jays into one of the best teams in baseball. Their 81 wins thus far are tied for the second most in MLB.</p><p>Bichette also plays killer defense in the middle infield. The Blue Jays might not be able to afford him after giving <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/toronto-blue-jays/grading-vladimir-guerrero-jr-blue-jays-500-million-contract">huge contracts to Anthony Santander and Vladimir Guerrero Jr</a>. Considering Bichette is just 27 years old and regularly has a batting average above .300, he may end up as the top player on the open market this offseason, regardless of position. Signing him would be just the move that could immediately improve the Pirates’ win production while simultaneously alleviating any concerns Skenes could have about Pittsburgh’s willingness to improve.</p><h2><b>Ramon Laureano</b></h2><p>The addition of a superstar like Bichette would drastically help, but the Pirates need a lot more than just one addition on offense. The team’s 102 home runs are by far the <a href="https://www.mlb.com/stats/team" rel="noopener">fewest in</a> baseball, and their team batting average of .234 isn’t far from the bottom. Chasing two superstars in the same offseason might be unrealistic, but Ramon Laureano could be a realistic and beneficial get for the Pirates.</p><p>Laureano started the season with the Baltimore Orioles, and he was expected to serve as a bench bat. Instead, he ended up being one of the best players for the team during a down season. His production in Baltimore led to him being a coveted trade deadline target, and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/mlb-stories/padres-orioles-trade-grades-for-blockbuster-ryan-ohearn-ramon-laureano">Laureano was eventually traded alongside Ryan O’Hearn</a> to the San Diego Padres.</p><p>Laureano has continued his hot streak with the new team. Laureano has batted .322 and has seven home runs in just 31 games with the Padres. He has arguably been one of the best players in baseball since being traded. The outfielder is likely a mere rental, though, and considering he is a long-time journeyman, he likely won’t be too expensive in free agency. Perhaps Laureano’s hot streak will continue into next season, though. He’d be an upgrade over Tommy Pham in left field, so the Pirates should sign him when free agency kicks off.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

2 free agents Pirates must pursue in offseason

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/pirates-news-paul-skenes-drops-truth-bomb-after-dodgers-sweep-we-got-nothing-to-lose');   ga('set', 'title', 'Pirates’ Paul Skenes drops truth bomb after Dodgers sweep: ‘We got nothing to lose’');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Pirates-starting-pitcher-Paul-Skenes-30-walks-in.jpg"><figcaption>© Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Pirates’ Paul Skenes drops truth bomb after Dodgers sweep: ‘We got nothing to lose’</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-04T21:17:02-07:00">September 4th, 9:17pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-04T21:17:02-07:00">September 4th, 9:17pm</time><address><a href="https://letterboxd.com/splooshpuhrty/films/by/your-rating/">Jedd Pagaduan</a>Jedd Pagaduan is a certified Clippers and Gunners fan, which means he's a very sports-traumatized individual. He now writes about sports instead as a form of therapy.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">MLB</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The 2025 season has long been lost for the Pittsburgh Pirates. But that doesn’t mean that the final stretch of the regular season is meaningless for them. In fact, the Pirates locker room cannot be any more fired up after their recently-concluded three-game set against the reigning World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, as they <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/los-angeles-dodgers/dodgers-news-las-sweep-pirates-concerning-trend">finished off a sweep on Thursday</a> with a 5-3 win.</p><p>The Pirates have been bad all year, but as the old adage goes, it’s not about how you start, it’s how you finish. This Pittsburgh squad is playing with a chip on their shoulder, and with ace Paul Skenes on the mound on Thursday, there was plenty of reasons for them to be confident, especially when they were <a href="https://twitter.com/SNPittsburgh/status/1963790072303501703" rel="noopener">gunning for the sweep</a> in front of their home crowd.</p><p>“We’re playing good baseball. I don’t know what confidence comes from, individually or team-wise. I think, to an extent, it comes from success. We’ve shown ourselves that we can do it. That gives us confidence. We got nothing to lose. It’s time to go. We don’t want to leave anything out there on the field. Just got to keep going,” Skenes told reporters following the Pirates’ win, via SportsNet Pittsburgh.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"We got nothing to lose. It's time to go… We don't want to leave anything out there on the field." 😤</p><p>Paul Skenes is AMPED to finish the season strong 👏 ⚡ <a href="https://t.co/6e7cj1QllJ">pic.twitter.com/6e7cj1QllJ</a></p><p>— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) <a href="https://twitter.com/SNPittsburgh/status/1963790072303501703?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 5, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Since coming out of the All-Star break, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/los-angeles-dodgers/dodgers-news-fans-ruthlessly-clown-la-after-wild-pirates-sweep">Pirates have been playing winning baseball</a>, having won 25 of their 44 games during that span. And this win over the Dodgers is simply a continuation of the much-improved level of play the whole roster, top to bottom, has displayed over the past month or so.</p><p>“That’s the stuff you enjoy, going for a sweep at home against arguably the best team in baseball. Those are cool opportunities, you can’t take them for granted,” Skenes added.</p><h2><b>Paul Skenes, Pirates are on an upward trajectory</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Pirates-give-stern-answer-to-team-inquiring-about-Paul-Skenes-trade.jpg"><figcaption>Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Much has been made over the past few years of the Pirates ownership’s propensity for cheapening out. But for all the flak they’ve caught, their record of 64-77 following their win over the Dodgers on Thursday could be a lot, lot worse.</p><p>Skenes, in particular, provides so much hope for the Pirates’ future. Every five days, the Pirates have as good of a chance to win as any other team in baseball, with their 23-year-old ace showing no signs of slowing down in his sophomore campaign. After another excellent start on Thursday where he allowed zero runs across 6.0 innings of work while striking out eight, Skenes is now sporting an ERA of 1.98 on the year across 173.0 innings.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Pirates’ Paul Skenes drops truth bomb after Dodgers sweep: ‘We got nothing to lose’

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/los-angeles-dodgers/dodgers-news-las-sweep-pirates-concerning-trend');   ga('set', 'title', 'Dodgers sweep vs. Pirates reinforces concerning trend');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Dave-Roberts-v1.jpg"><figcaption>Katie Stratman-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Dodgers sweep vs. Pirates reinforces concerning trend</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-04T20:32:19-07:00">September 4th, 8:32pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-04T20:32:19-07:00">September 4th, 8:32pm</time><address><a>Abdullah Imran</a>Abdullah Imran works as an Associate Editor for All Sports at ClutchPoints. He’s been a sports fan his entire life and enjoys writing about every sport. He has spent three years in sports journalism and loves analyzing games. In his free time, he very much enjoys binge-watching shows and playing video games.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Dodgers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Los Angeles Dodgers entered September with one of the easier schedules in the Majors, but their recent performance against weaker opponents has raised concerns. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/los-angeles-dodgers/dodgers-news-fans-ruthlessly-clown-la-after-wild-pirates-sweep">The Dodgers were swept by the Pittsburgh Pirates</a> in a three-game series, losing 5-3 on Thursday night at PNC Park, who entered the series 13 games under .500 and last in the NL Central.</p><p>This sweep has pointed to <a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/dodgers-swept-by-pirates-to-start-september" rel="noopener">a worrisome pattern</a> for the Dodgers over the past two months. Since August 1, L.A. has posted an 11-4 record against teams with .500 or better records but gone 4-12 against sub-.500 opponents, according to Sonja Chen of MLB.com, revealing inconsistency against weaker competition.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/pirates-paul-skenes-claims-he-would-strike-out-babe-ruth">The Pirates’ victory was powered by right-hander Paul Skenes</a>, who pitched six scoreless innings, allowing only two hits, walking one, and striking out eight. Skenes improved to 10-9 for the season, surpassing .500 for the first time in 2025 and lowering his ERA to a major league-best 1.98. The former NL Rookie of the Year has now won six of his last seven decisions.</p><p>Blake Snell started for the Dodgers but was hit hard, allowing five runs on nine hits over five innings, while Pittsburgh scored four runs in a decisive fifth inning following three consecutive singles. Tommy Pham’s third-inning single opened the scoring, and Nick Yorke’s two-run double contributed to the four-run rally that effectively sealed the game. Ben Rortvedt, called up to assist with catching duties, struck out to end the ninth as Colin Holderman recorded his first save of the season, despite entering with a 7.89 ERA.</p><p>Offensively, the Dodgers were limited to five hits, with Mookie Betts breaking up the shutout with a leadoff ninth-inning home run. RBI singles from Pedro Pages and Miguel Rojas trimmed the deficit to 5-3, but it was too late to mount a full comeback.</p><p>It’s the first time in a decade that Los Angeles has been swept by Pittsburgh. The loss was the Dodgers’ fifth defeat in six games, with the team scoring just 16 runs during that stretch. Overall, since the beginning of July, the Dodgers have gone 25-30, while the Pirates, after the sweep, stand at 28-27.</p><p>Still, Los Angeles remains atop the NL West, two games ahead of the second-place Padres, who lost eight of their past 10 games, including a sweep in San Diego by Baltimore. The Dodgers also sit three games behind the Phillies for a first-round postseason bye, leaving little room for error heading into the final month of the regular season.</p><p>The Dodgers’ road trip continues with a series against the Baltimore Orioles, followed by a home series against the Colorado Rockies, the worst team in MLB this season. For a team chasing a championship, the next few weeks are make-or-break, as they need to get their act together and make the most of games against teams they’re supposed to comfortably win.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Dodgers sweep vs. Pirates reinforces concerning trend

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/pirates-paul-skenes-claims-he-would-strike-out-babe-ruth');   ga('set', 'title', 'Pirates’ Paul Skenes claims he would strike out Babe Ruth');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Paul-Skenes_86684c.jpg"></figure><h1>Pirates’ Paul Skenes claims he would strike out Babe Ruth</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-04T10:18:31-07:00">September 4th, 10:18am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-04T10:18:31-07:00">September 4th, 10:18am</time><address><a>Gerard Angelo Samillano</a>Gerard Angelo Samillano is an Associate Editor for ClutchPoints, with his focus primarily on the NBA, NFL, MLB and NCAA Football. When he's not writing for CP, Gerard can often be seen playing VALORANT or playing pick-up basketball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">MLB</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Paul Skenes is a force of nature. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/pirates-news-paul-skenes-continues-shine-impressive-showing-tigers">The Pittsburgh Pirates ace is currently one of the best</a>, if not the best, pitchers in the MLB now. Skenes’ ability to completely overwhelm batters makes him a devastating threat to every hitting lineup.</p><p>There’s one question that remains to be answered, though: how would Skenes fare against the greatest players of all time. The Pirates ace gets his opponents out on a regular basis, but what would happen if he faced someone like, say, Babe Ruth?</p><p>Well, Skenes himself attempted to answer that question when he went on Mookie Betts’ podcast. The Pirates pitcher said that <a href="https://x.com/BleacherReport/status/1963104732974563678" rel="noopener">he believes he’ll be able to strike out</a> Babe Ruth himself. His solution? Throw something that even hitters today rarely see: his signature “splinker”.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Pirates’ Paul Skenes claims he would strike out Babe Ruth

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/mlb-stories/mlb-news-fans-question-emmet-sheehan-cam-devanney-1st-hit');   ga('set', 'title', 'Fans question Emmet Sheehan gesture after Cam Devanney’s 1st hit');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Emmet-Sheehan.jpg"><figcaption>Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Fans question Emmet Sheehan gesture after Cam Devanney’s 1st hit</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-03T19:07:55-07:00">September 3rd, 7:07pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-03T19:38:43-07:00">September 3rd, 7:38pm</time><address><a>Mike Gianakos</a>Mike Gianakos is the former editor-in-chief of High Times magazine, where he also spearheaded the video department and event production. He is a longtime podcaster and even longer suffering NY Jets fan.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Dodgers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Shohei Ohtani was scheduled to take the mound for the Los Angeles Dodgers as the team looked to bounce back from a 9-7 loss in the series opener against the Pittsburgh Pirates. But <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/los-angeles-dodgers/dodgers-news-shohei-ohtani-scratched-starting-pitching-pirates">Ohtani was a last minute scratch</a>. Los Angeles gave the ball to Emmet Sheehan instead. And the second-year pitcher provided some controversy along with his spot start.</p><p>Pirates infielder Cam Devanney made his long-awaited MLB debut on August 31 and recorded his first major league hit on Wednesday. After Devanney reached on a single to left in the bottom of the second inning, <a href="https://x.com/BenVerlander/status/1963385854157885447" rel="noopener">cameras caught</a> Sheehan doing something… odd.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">It appears Emmet Sheehan just intentionally kept the first MLB hit ball for Cam Devanney. </p><p>The team asked for the ball. The umpire threw Sheehan a new ball and he clearly switched it in his glove. </p><p> <a href="https://t.co/juwAc0loEG">pic.twitter.com/juwAc0loEG</a></p><p>— Ben Verlander (@BenVerlander) <a href="https://twitter.com/BenVerlander/status/1963385854157885447?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 3, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>“It appears Emmet Sheehan just intentionally kept the first MLB hit ball for Cam Devanney,” Ben Verlander wrote on X. “The team asked for the ball. The umpire threw Sheehan a new ball and he clearly switched it in his glove.”</p><h2><b>Dodgers starter Emmet Sheehan faces backlash after switcheroo</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Emmet-Sheehan2.jpg"><figcaption>Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>An on-air breakdown of the footage did appear to confirm that Sheehan swapped out Devanney’s memento. Was this an act of unmitigated cruelty or a simply a harmless accident?</p><p>Dodgers reporter Kristen Watson attempted to <a href="https://x.com/kirsten_watson/status/1963415042440716612" rel="noopener">clear things up</a> after speaking with the pitcher. “Emmet Sheehan said it was not intentional,” Watson wrote. “He didn’t realize that the ball was being called for and shared he would personally apologize to Cam Devanney for the misunderstanding.”</p><p>That explanation failed to satisfy some fans. And many took to social media to share their thoughts.</p><p><a href="https://x.com/PlatinumKey13/status/1963391932035371465" rel="noopener">Platinum Key</a> wrote:<br>“Going to post every clip of Emmet Sheehan getting shelled in the postseason. This guy SUCKS”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/KyleBroughton4/status/1963398917418274850">Kyle Broughton</a> added:<br>“Emmet Sheehan is a complete dickhole. What if this justifiably curses the Dodgers for the next 100 years?”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/bennybumNEPAL/status/1963385397498839235" rel="noopener">Benedict Bumford</a> noted:<br>“Absolute scumbag behavior from Emmet Sheehan of the @Dodgers not saving Devanney’s first hit ball. You can’t take someone getting a hit off you, get off the mound you pigeon. @MLB fine this guy.”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/trotterman3/status/1963408794085724191" rel="noopener">@trotterman3</a> contemplated:<br>“If he had the ball in his hand that was the kid’s first hit and then caught the new ball in his glove why reach into his glove at all? He could have just thrown the ball in his hand towards the dugout. He didn’t and clearly switched the balls. That’s a scummy thing to do.”</p><p>And <a href="https://x.com/tybuttrey_/status/1963387396403363946" rel="noopener">Ty Buttrey</a> reasoned:<br>“The pitcher looks in the zone, probably had no clue it was this kids first at bat. He reacted from the umpire look at which ball was better and threw the bad ball in… You all love drama”</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Fans question Emmet Sheehan gesture after Cam Devanney’s 1st hit

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/pirates-news-paul-skenes-reveals-truth-behind-roy-moment-livvy-dunne');   ga('set', 'title', 'Pirates’ Paul Skenes reveals truth behind viral ROY moment with Livvy Dunne');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Pittsburgh-Pirates-starting-pitcher-Paul-Skenes-and-former-LSU-gymnast-Livvy-Dunne.jpg"><figcaption>Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Pirates’ Paul Skenes reveals truth behind viral ROY moment with Livvy Dunne</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-03T13:32:30-07:00">September 3rd, 1:32pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-03T13:46:39-07:00">September 3rd, 1:46pm</time><address><a>Zachary Howell</a>Zachary Howell is an Associate Editor at ClutchPoints focusing on creating premier MLB content. He is a big fan of the Yankees, Oklahoma City Thunder and the Syracuse Orange. In his free time, he likes to be outside or read.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">MLB</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Pittsburgh Pirates Paul Skenes is off to a legendary start to his Major League Baseball career. The second-year pro won the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/pirates-news-paul-skenes-beats-jackson-merrill-nl-rookie-of-the-year">National League Rookie of the Year award last season</a>. However, the reaction from Skenes and his girlfriend, Livvy Dunne, turned heads. The All-Star starter broke the reaction down for Mookie Betts, saying that his partner helps him with his feelings.</p><p>Skenes and Dunne have been together since their days at LSU. Over the last few years, both have risen to become one of professional sports’ premier celebrity couples. Now, each of them lead successful careers that have them both in the national spotlight, whether it be on the pitcher’s mound or on the balance beam. Despite the success, Skenes has trouble showing his joy.</p><p>After dealing with trade rumors swirling around Pittsburgh, Skenes has been able to focus on his pitching. He is just a few starts away from winning the NL Cy Young Award in his second season in MLB. He appeared on Bett’s podcast, On Base, to explain how Dunne <a href="https://youtu.be/H529S50W4PU?t=2828" rel="noopener">helps him understand</a> the significance of his achievements and help him celebrate.</p><p>“I joke with Liv because it’s like she is my emotion,” Skenes said. “Or she shows the emotion for me. I didn’t go into the year wanting to win, or it’s not a successful year if I win Rookie of the Year. Whether I won that or not it was a successful year. And so I’m sitting there and they call my name and it’s like, what does this change for me, it’s November at this point. I don’t know I probably think about it a little different. Maybe the next time I’ll show a little more emotion.”</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/los-angeles-dodgers/dodgers-news-shohei-ohtani-scratched-starting-pitching-pirates">Skenes might have a date with Shohei Ohtani</a> standing between him and a Cy Young award. Regardless of how his season ends, the pitcher and Dunne will continue to support one another’s accomplishment, even if one is better at it than the other.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Pirates’ Paul Skenes reveals truth behind viral ROY moment with Livvy Dunne

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/los-angeles-dodgers/dodgers-news-shohei-ohtani-scratched-starting-pitching-pirates');   ga('set', 'title', 'Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani scratched from starting pitching role vs. Pirates');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/shohei-ohtani.jpg"><figcaption>Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani scratched from starting pitching role vs. Pirates</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-03T12:47:32-07:00">September 3rd, 12:47pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-03T13:01:48-07:00">September 3rd, 1:01pm</time><address><a>Christopher Hennessy</a>Christopher Hennessy is a Senior Editor at ClutchPoints, with expertise in MLB, NHL and golf. Chris graduated with a journalism degree from Fordham University in 2022. He has also worked at Spectrum News One in Albany, New York and with The Hockey Writers as a New York Islanders writer. Chris is originally from Connecticut and is a lifelong New York Yankees, Islanders, and Jets fan.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Dodgers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Los Angeles Dodgers lost the<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/los-angeles-dodgers/dodgers-news-mookie-betts-admits-no-secret-formula-after-pirates-loss"> first game of a three-game set against the Pittsburgh Pirates</a> on Tuesday. They came into Tuesday’s game with high hopes because of the pitching matchup. But the Dodgers have scratched Shohei Ohtani from the pitching role on Wednesday, per multiple reports. But it <a href="https://x.com/TalkinBaseball_/status/1963318629333897549" rel="noopener">could lead to a matchup</a> against Paul Skenes.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Shohei Ohtani was initially listed as tonight's Dodgers starting pitcher, but now he's listed as the DH instead</p><p>If the Dodgers are simply pushing him off a day, he would be lined up to face Paul Skenes tomorrow night <a href="https://t.co/dVsOWXy4uM">pic.twitter.com/dVsOWXy4uM</a></p><p>— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) <a href="https://twitter.com/TalkinBaseball_/status/1963318629333897549?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 3, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Ohtani is still ramping up as he recovers from a UCL injury that knocked him off the mound for all of 2024. His most recent appearance was five innings, his longest with the Dodgers. But now, they have scratched him from the pitching role. He will still DH, which is promising on the injury front.</p><p>The Pirates have Braxton Ashcraft on the mound Wednesday afternoon against Emmet Sheehan, who will get the spot start. In Sheehan’s last appearance with the Dodgers, he threw seven innings of two-hit, shutout ball against the Cincinnati Reds. They need a big start to avoid a series loss to the Pirates amid a division race.</p><p>The Dodgers may get Ohtani back on the hill as soon as Thursday if they are trying to set up the historic matchup. If they are not, Skenes will go against multi-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell instead. Despite their 2024 championship and solid 2025 so far, LA has had issues keeping pitchers healthy. They hope Ohtani does not join that group.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/los-angeles-dodgers/dodgers-news-how-shohei-ohtani-la-record-pirates">Ohtani hit a home run ball 120 miles per hour on Tuesday night, the hardest hit ball in Dodgers’</a> history. He will be leading off as the designated hitter on Wednesday, which could lead to more history. But nothing would get the eyeballs that an Ohtani vs Skenes pitching matchup would bring.</p><p>The Dodgers and Pirates finish their three-game set on Thursday at 3:40 p.m. Pacific. Skenes will be on the hill, but will Ohtani join him?</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani scratched from starting pitching role vs. Pirates

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/pirates-news-pittsburgh-makes-2-roster-moves-before-dodgers-clash');   ga('set', 'title', 'Pirates make 2 roster moves before Dodgers clash');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Pirates-P-Cam-Sanders.jpg?w=1024"><figcaption>Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Pirates make 2 roster moves before Dodgers clash</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-02T15:53:35-07:00">September 2nd, 3:53pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-02T16:08:59-07:00">September 2nd, 4:08pm</time><address><a href="https://linktr.ee/jordan.llanes">Jordan Llanes</a>Jordan Llanes is a sports writer and reporter based in Florida. In addition to ClutchPoints, he writes for a few other publications covering the NFL, college sports and Tottenham Hotspur. When he's not writing, Jordan enjoys spending time with his fiancée, cats, family and friends, as well as catching the latest TV shows and movies, and traveling.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">MLB</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>While the 2025 season has not gone according to plan <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/1-disappointing-player-pirates-must-trade-in-offseason">for the Pittsburgh Pirates,</a> finishing strong would certainly be a great way to boost the team heading into the offseason. Even though the Pirates are 23.5 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers for the NL Central lead, third place is certainly feasible. If Pittsburgh hopes to get there, then starting off their midweek series against the Los Angeles Dodgers with a win would certainly be a great way to start. Ahead of the matchup, the Pirates’ official X, formerly Twitter, announced <a href="https://x.com/Pirates/status/1962992493252800986" rel="noopener">the team had promoted</a> utilityman Nick Yorke and reliever Cam Sanders from Triple-A.</p><p>“We have recalled RHP Cam Sanders and INF/OF Nick Yorke from Triple-A Indianapolis,” posted the team’s account on Tuesday.</p><p>After rosters expanded yesterday, the promotion of Sanders and Yorke is a solid move by GM Ben Cherington and his staff. The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/pirates-news-pittsburgh-places-ex-yankees-infielder-on-outright-waivers">Pirates need to find contributors</a> for not only the 2026 roster, but beyond that point as well. Another under-.500, non-playoff season is already disappointing enough. However, if Yorke and Sanders can improve on their previous big-league stints, can they lock in a roster spot for next season, if not longer?</p><h2><b>Pirates look to finish 2025 season off on high note</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Pirates-INF-OF-Nick-Yorke.jpg"><figcaption>Mandatory Credit: © Christine Tannous/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Over the season’s last month, it should be the focus of Cherington and interim manager Don Kelly to get their younger players as many at bats as possible. After releasing veteran contributors Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Andrew Heaney, it looks as if Yorke and Sanders are their replacements, at least for now. If both players show promise, then it will give them a head start <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/pirates-news-oneil-cruz-takes-big-step-injury-return">towards the Pirates’ 2026 roster.</a></p><p>While hopes could be higher for Yorke, it’s likely Sanders who will receive more opportunities as the season draws to a close. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/new-york-yankees/yankees-news-bizarre-david-bednar-pirates-trade">The Pirates traded away</a> a few bullpen contributors before the deadline and just lost Heaney as well. Braxton Ashcraft looks set to replace him in the rotation. Can these young guns prove to be long-term contributors for Pittsburgh over the next few weeks? If so, then a brighter 2026 should be in store at PNC Park.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Pirates make 2 roster moves before Dodgers clash

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/1-disappointing-player-pirates-must-trade-in-offseason');   ga('set', 'title', '1 disappointing player Pirates must trade in offseason');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Pirates-right-fielder-Jack-Suwinski.jpg"><figcaption>Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>1 disappointing player Pirates must trade in offseason</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-02T10:17:25-07:00">September 2nd, 10:17am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-02T10:17:25-07:00">September 2nd, 10:17am</time><address><a>Yasmin Edañol</a>Yasmin D.G. Edañol is a PhD candidate in Chemistry at the University of the Philippines Diliman, with a background in scientific research and publishing. He brings a data-driven perspective to sports storytelling as an Associate Editor at ClutchPoints, with a focus on the NBA. Whether it's breaking down a clutch play or a stat line, he believes every great moment has a deeper layer waiting to be uncovered.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Mini-Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Pittsburgh Pirates season has <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/pirates-news-don-kelly-umpire-ejection">been a roller coaster of promise and frustration</a>. Despite flashes of competitiveness, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/pirates-news-fans-lose-minds-blowing-9-run-lead-vs-rockies">inconsistency ultimately derailed their playoff hopes</a>. With the door to the offseason now wide open, the Pirates faces pivotal roster decisions, and one player has emerged as the clear trade candidate: Jack Suwinski.</p><p><b>High Hopes That Never Materialized</b></p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/pirates-news-rookie-jack-suwinski-achieves-feat-never-done-before-in-mlb-with-home-run-ambush">When the Pirates acquired Jack Suwinski</a>, expectations were high. He was viewed as a potential power bat who could anchor the lineup and grow into a key piece of the rebuild. Early in his career, he offered glimpses of promise with clutch home runs, highlight-reel catches, and a few game-changing moments. However, those flashes proved unsustainable.</p><p>In the 2025 season, Suwinski’s production fell sharply. He hit just .132 over 121 at-bats, managing only 3 home runs, 8 RBIs, and a .525 OPS. Opposing pitchers quickly learned to exploit his weaknesses, forcing him into prolonged slumps and exposing his lack of adjustment at the plate.</p><p><b>Numbers That Tell the Story</b></p><p>Baseball is a results-driven game, and Suwinski’s 2025 numbers leave little room for optimism. In fact, his .132 batting average this season ranks among the lowest for Pirates hitters with significant at-bats, and his .525 OPS sits far below league-average production. Furthermore, his -0.1 WAR shows that his on-field contributions have actually hurt the team more than they’ve helped.</p><p>While Suwinski’s raw power remains intriguing, his declining plate discipline and inability to make consistent contact expose deeper developmental issues. Ultimately, for a team striving to become competitive again, his struggles have simply become too costly to overlook.</p><p><b>Why a Trade Makes Sense Now</b></p><p>The Pirates offseason presents the perfect opportunity for the team to reset and maximize Suwinski’s remaining value. Therefore, trading him now would allow the Pirates to free up roster space for promising young outfield prospects. Moreover, these players are ready to contribute at the major league level.</p><p>At the same time, teams with deeper lineups and less immediate pressure to produce, such as the Mariners or Guardians, might view Suwinski as a low-cost reclamation project. By doing so, the Pirates could target controllable pitching or versatile bench players. These additions, in turn, can provide more immediate and consistent value. Ultimately, while the return may not be blockbuster-level, making a move now strengthens the roster and aligns with the organization’s long-term vision</p><p><b>A Message to the Fanbase</b></p><p>Trading Suwinski would also send a strong message to the fanbase after another up-and-down Pirates season. Fans have endured years of rebuilding promises, and their patience is wearing thin. Making this move would demonstrate that mediocrity is no longer acceptable and that management is fully committed to constructing a competitive roster. It would also signal accountability, a willingness to make tough decisions, and a clear commitment to building a team capable of contending in the National League Central.</p><p><b>The Bigger Picture</b></p><p>The Pirates are entering a pivotal phase in their rebuild. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/pirates-news-pittsburgh-to-promote-top-pitching-prospect">With young pitching talent emerging</a> and several top prospects pushing for MLB roles, the organization can no longer afford to waste valuable opportunities on players who are failing to progress. While Suwinski’s potential might still appeal to other teams, Pittsburgh’s priorities have shifted. The focus is now on developing consistent contributors who can stabilize the lineup and accelerate the rebuilding process. It is time to prioritize reliability over untapped potential.</p><p><b>Final Thoughts</b></p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/pirates-news-mlb-history-rockies">The 2025 Pirates season revealed both promise and lingering shortcomings</a>. Trading Jack Suwinski this offseason isn’t just about the Pirates moving on from one disappointing player. It’s about redefining the team’s identity and setting a new tone for the future. By addressing their roster weaknesses and acting decisively, the Pirates can start building momentum and position themselves for meaningful progress in the years ahead.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

1 disappointing player Pirates must trade in offseason

2025 SEASON STATS
IP	ERA	K	WHIP	WINS
30	3.60	14	1.20	1

2025 SEASON STATS
IP	ERA	K	WHIP	WINS
30	3.60	14	1.20	1

Johan
Oviedo

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