The Pirates left their first post-All-Star road trip with a split, and that’s exactly why the last two losses sting. Winning three of six against two sturdy American League clubs is respectable on paper. But the way Pittsburgh dropped games to the Yankees made the outcome feel much worse than a plain old even split.
The bullpen took the heat, and it deserved plenty of it. Still, the bigger issue was Don Kelly’s handling of the pitching staff. In both games of the doubleheader against New York, Kelly moved to his relievers too soon, and the decisions changed the shape of the series.
That’s what makes the choices stand out. Before the All-Star break, Kelly’s caution made sense.
He had already been pulling starters early all season, and at that point in the schedule, a conservative approach was understandable. But this trip came with Mitch Keller and Bubba Chandler both having more than a week between starts, which meant they were fresh enough to work deeper into games.
Instead, Kelly went to a shaky bullpen early in both contests. In the opener, Pittsburgh’s relief corps allowed three runs and nearly turned a win into a loss before the offense bailed everyone out in extra innings. That escape didn’t carry over later in the day.
Chandler was rolling in the nightcap, striking out five and walking only one over 6.1 innings. He had given up just two hits, but Kelly saw enough to make a change and called on newly acquired left-hander Brandon Eisert. Eisert then allowed two runs, and the game slipped away.
Kelly’s explanation after the game only made the decision look worse.
"Not predetermined, but with him not pitching in nine days - rested, but didn't want to push him too far," he told reporters postgame. "Felt that with Bellinger getting a hit, the double, and then Chisholm had one before that, just went to Eisert there."
There’s no mystery about the bullpen’s limitations. It has been mediocre in 2026, and even with Eisert added, Pittsburgh still needs help there.
But Kelly’s problem is that he knows it. Even with that awareness, he keeps leaning on relievers in the biggest spots, even though his starters have been better all season.
That’s the real concern now. Kelly can’t keep handing the game to a bullpen that hasn’t earned that kind of trust. If he keeps managing the staff this way, the Pirates’ unlikely run could unravel fast.
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