Pirates Reveal Starting Pitchers Against Cardinals
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates head into their final home series with their starting pitching looking to finish the season strong.
The Pirates host the St. Louis Cardinals at PNC Park, Sept. 22-24, the final series against a National League Central Division opponent and the last series in Pittsburgh in 2026.
Jared Jones takes the mound in the series opener on Sept. 22, the Pirates listed "TBA" for Sept. 23 and Paul Skenes pitches in the series/home finale on Sept. 24.
The Cardinals have two right-handed starting pitchers listed against the Pirates, Andre Pallante in the series opener and Kyle Leahy in the series finale, plus left-handed starting pitcher Matthew Liberatore on Sept. 23.
Jones Back To Best Self in September
The Pirates see Jones as a big part of their future starting rotation, and he's showing it in September,
Jones has posted a 1.50 ERA over 18.0 innings pitched in three starts this month, with a 2-0 record, 26 strikeouts to four walks, a .172 batting average allowed and a 0.83 WHIP.
He's been one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball in September, with the second-best K/BB (32.4%), third-best K/9 (13.00) and strikeout rate (38.2%), seventh-most strikeouts, eighth-lowest WHIP and the 10th-lowest ERA.
Jones had some issues in his latest start vs. the Milwaukee Brewers at PNC Park on Sept. 16, seven hits and three runs allowed, but tied his season-high nine strikeouts.
He was even more dominant in his first two starts in September, with six scoreless innings and nine strikeouts in the 1-0 win over the Los Angeles Angels at PNC Park on Sept. 4 and taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning in the 2-0 win over the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field on Sept. 10.
Jones has completely bucked his poor August, when he posted a 7.40 ERA, a .318 BAA and a 1.94 WHIP, and is displaying what will make him a future Pirates ace.
Pirates Have Options for Bullpen Game
The Pirates have two more bullpen games before the season ends and this is the final one at PNC Park.
Pittsburgh will have options for this bullpen game and manager Don Kelly and his staff will decide after the series opener.
It's likely the Pirates go with their youth, right-handed rookie pitchers Khristian Curtis, Wilber Dotel and Antwone Kelly, in bulk roles.
Curtis hasn't pitched since the bullpen game against the Brewers on Sept. 17 and gave up one run over 3.1 innings in the 7-4 win.
Dotel has thrown two innings in each of the past two bullpen games, most recently on Sept. 20, while Kelly hasn't pitched since Sept. 15, so he may get the edge over Dotel in this one.
The Pirates have more options for this bullpen game, with a day of rest before the series starts, but expect one or two of this rookie trio to pitch against the Cardinals.
Paul Skenes Faces Final Start of 2026
This hasn't been the year that Skenes or the Pirates would've wanted, but they both have to live with it and look to do better heading into 2027.
Skenes has posted a 10-11 record over 31 starts, a 3.91 ERA over 168.0 innings pitched, 192 strikeouts to 47 walks, a .230 BAA and a 1.31 WHIP this season.
He has been inconsistent through mid-May, posting a 4-9 record in his last 22 starts and a 4.73 ERA over 118.0 innings pitched.
Skenes has had mechanical issues, a loss of velocity in his four-seam fastball, a lack of command of his off-speed stuff and he won't figure it out before 2026 ends.
The good thing about Skenes is that he isn't dealing with a long-term injury, and he has the offseason to relax, look at all of his starts collectively, diagnose the problem and fix it before 2027.
Skenes will take the mound one last time against the Cardinals, and if he can throw six strong innings, it should be a good ending to a season he's hoping to move past quickly.
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Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.