First Pitch: The Biggest Problem With the Pirates Pitching Staff This Year

The Pirates pitching staff has been a disaster, but the biggest issue has been the struggles from the top arms. Photo Credit: David HagueThere has been one thing painfully clear with the Pirates this year — their pitching has been awful.

The Pirates have assembled a strong offense. It’s an offense so strong that it rates near the top of the NL and MLB in WAR, wOBA, wRC+, and more — and that’s all while their star player, Andrew McCutchen, has been struggling. But as strong as the offense has been, the pitching staff has been equally as bad.

The collective group ranks near the bottom of the NL and MLB. This comes a year after they were one of the best groups in baseball. There were some…