PHILADELPHIA — The Pittsburgh Pirates concluded their road trip on the east coast and showed that they simply don’t have what it takes to contest with the best in baseball.

The Pirates faced both the New York Mets at Citi Field and the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park and both teams shared a similarity: big payrolls.

The Mets have the highest payroll in the MLB at $323,099,999, marked by their record signing of free agent outfielder Juan Soto for $765 million over 15 years. The Phillies aren’t far behind at $284,210,820, the fourth highest in the MLB.

Pittsburgh has a payroll of $87,645,246, the fifth least in the MLB, and it showed on the field.

Both National League East Division Teams have star power and great depth throughout their rosters, which showed last season, as the Mets made the NLCS and the Phillies made the playoffs for the third straight season.

The Pirates haven’t made the playoffs since 2015 and have just one season above .500 since then. There is a lack of winning that extends from previous team and continues to now, due to poor free agent signings, no identity and poor execution during offseasons, drafts, etc.

Philadelphia and New York will both contend for a World Series this season and currently sit 28-18 and 29-17 overall, respectively. (Fill in). They both have done what is necessary to win and have the players and the team culture to achieve that goal.

The Pirates have just 15 wins from 47 games in 2025 and have the third worst record in baseball. They sit 13.0 games behind the Chicago Cubs at the top of the NL Central Division and the San Francisco Giants in the third NL Wild Card spot.

It’s only the middle of May, but the Pirates have lost this season and it’s going to get much worse before it gets better.

The Pirates have fought harder and gone after games better under new manager Don Kelly than prior manager Derek Shelton, but hitting the ball successfully and for runs remains a massive obstacle every single game.

Pittsburgh batted .192, 38-for-197, plus 4-for-38 with runners in scoring position over the six games against the Mets and Phillies. They also struck out 53 times, averaging nearly nine strikeouts per game.

The Pirates had two close losses to the Mets, 4-3 on a walk-off on May 12 and 2-1 on May 13, where they were 1-for-9 and 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position, respectively.

They went 1-for-10 in the series against the Phillies with runners in scoring position, which included the 5-2 loss on May 17, where they had no runners in scoring position, with only a Bryan Reynolds two-run home run in the top of the ninth inning as the sole offense in the game.

None of this is much of a surprise for a team that has been terrible all season long from the plate, ranking towards the bottom of most statistics.

The Pirates rank tied for the worst batting average in the MLB at .217, along with the Chicago White Sox and the Colorado Rockies, at .217 and OPS at .619, along with the White Six, and possess the worst slugging percentage at .322. Their .297 on-base percentage is also fifth worst.

Pittsburgh has also not scored more than four runs in a game since a 9-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels at Angels Stadium on April 23, a 23-game streak. That ties the 2022 Miami Marlins for the longest such streak in a season since at least 1980.

The Pirates offense doing so poorly runined some fantastic performances from the Pirates pitching staff.

Paul Skenes allowed just one run, plus six hits and three walks, while posting six strikeouts over six innings vs. the Mets on May 12 and then just one run, a walk and only three hits, while tying his season-high of nine strikeouts in eight innings against the Phillies on May 18, for his first complete game of his career.

Mitch Keller also excelled in his start vs. the Mets on May 13, where he allowed five hits, two walks and two earned runs and posted a season high eight strikeouts over seven innings.

All three of those games the Pirates have lost and it’s a trend that the team has had this season, with lack of support for great outings from their starting pitching.

They’ve suffered defeat in seven of 10 games that Skenes has pitched in, despite only allowing 17 earned runs, and have lost seven of the nine games that Keller started. The Pirates have scored 24 runs for Keller and 32 runs for Skenes, averaging to 2.7 and 3.2 runs per start, respectively.

Pittsburgh has not supported their two best pitchers and for fans, it’s understandbly a massive source of frustation for a season they expected improvement and growth.

The Pirates got two important players back from injury in their series vs. the Phillies in first baseman Spencer Horwitz and center fielder Oneil Cruz

Horwitz missed all of Spring Training and the entire MLB season up until this past weekend with a right wrist injury. He did two rehab assignments at both Double-A Altoona and Triple-A Indianpolis prior to his return.

Cruz missed almost a week with lower back pain after an awkward slide attempt against the Atlanta Braves on May 10. He was day-to-day, but is now back in the starting lineup.

Horwitz went 1-for-6 with a strikeout, starting the past two games at first base, while Oneil Cruz went 0-for-9 and struckout eight times, including four in the shutout defeat to end the series.

The Pirates will need patience with both Horwitz and Cruz, who will look to regain form on the field and at the plate going forward.

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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers have struggled maintaining a good situation in their quarterback room since Ben Roethlisberger got injured in the midst of the 2019 season. That being said, it is entirely possible that this upcoming year could be their worst, with the room of Mason Rudolph, Skylar Thompson and Will Howard leading the team at quarterback this coming season.

The lack of presumed talent in the room has caught the eyes of many, as it has not been hard to see the lack of pedigree that the current room brings. However, it has certainly irked some people more than others.

Jason McIntyre, co-host of The Herd With Colin Cowherd on FS1, did not hold back when discussing his outlook on the upcoming season for the Steelers. Despite the Steelers making moves to change their wide receiver room and address concerns in other parts of the team, McIntyre is quite low on the team.

One possible change to the quarterback room could be the addition of future Pro Football Hall Of Famer Aaron Rodgers, but McIntyre believes that his addition would not help much either.

“This Steelers schedule is not good,” McIntyre said. “I’m not going out on a limb here, they ain’t making the playoffs. I don’t care if Rodgers shows up, I don’t care if Tom Brady suits up. They’re not making the playoffs.”

McIntyre goes as far to say that even if the consensus best quarterback of all time were to join the team in Brady, they would still be unsucessful this coming season. The Steelers schedule certainly is not easy, and a losing season could benefit their future if the upcoming quarterback class is as advertised. All that being said, McIntyre’s harsh outlook could ring true if some parts of the team do not click this coming season.

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PHILADELPHIA — The Pittsburgh Pirates struggled massively from the plate, as they suffered a 5-2 defeat to the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.

The Pirates drop to 1-4 on this road trip, winning one of three games vs. the New York Mets at Citi Field and suffering a 8-4 defeat in the previous game vs. the Phillies, losing the series.

This marks the seventh out of eight road series the Pirates have lost this season, falling to 6-18 on the road and 15-31 overall. The Phillies improve to 27-15 and 16-8 at home in 2025.

Pirates starting pitcher, right-hander Carmen Mlodzinski, allowed back-to-back singles to Phillies shortstop Trea Turner and first baseman Bryce Harper, putting runners on the corner with one out in the bottom of the first inning.

Phillies desingated hitter Kyle Schwarber then hit a double off of Mlodzinski, allowing Turner to score and give the home team a 1-0 game, plus move Harper to third base.

Mlodzinski got Phillies right fielder Nick Castellanos to ground right to his first baseman Spencer Horwitz, who threw an advancing Harper out at home plate. Mlodzinski then got left fielder Max Kepler to fly out to Oneil Cruz in center field, ending any further scoring from the Phillies.

The Phillies doubled their lead to open the bottom of the third inning, as second baseman Bryson Stott hit a slider out for a solo home run, making it 2-0 to the home team.

Philadelphia almost added on, as Harper walked and Castellanos hit a ground rule double, but Kepler popped out.

Mlodzinski would get the first out of the bottom of the fourth inning, but then allowed a single to third baseman Alec Bohm and a double to center fielder Brandon Marsh.

Pirates manager Don Kelly would take Mlodzinski out after that and put in left-handed pitcher Joey Wentz.

Wentz allowed a single to Stott to start off and both Bohm and Marsh scored to double the Phillies’ lead at 4-0.

Stott stole second base and after Wentz got Turner to line out, Harper doubled and scored Stott, extending Philadelphia’s lead to 5-0.

The Pirates had just three hits up until the ninth inning, with third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes hitting a single in the top of the second inning, right fielder Bryan Reynolds reaching first base on a single in the top of the fourth innng and shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa doing the same in the top of the sixth inning.

Pittsburgh finally got some offense going in the top of the ninth inning as designated hitter Andrew McCutchen walked and then Reynolds hit a two-run home run with one out, cutting the deficit to 5-2.

They would still lose the game as catcher Joey Bart struckout and pinch hitter Alexander Canario grounded out to end it.

The Pirates will look to avoid the series sweep against the Phillies on May 18. First pitch is set for 1:35 p.m.

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