The Pittsburgh Pirates are heading into a brutal stretch with their rotation still trying to find its footing, and the weekend ahead won’t offer much relief.
Pittsburgh opens a nine-game road trip at Dodger Stadium from Aug. 21-23, and the matchup sets up as a serious test from the jump. The Pirates will send Bubba Chandler to the mound in the opener on Aug. 21, Jared Jones in the second game on Aug. 22, and have the finale listed as TBA, which points to a bullpen game.
The Dodgers’ side of the series is loaded. Yoshinobu Yamamoto is lined up against Chandler, Tarik Skubal against Jones and Blake Snell is expected to start the finale. That’s a rough assignment for any club, and especially for a Pirates staff still searching for steady answers.
Chandler has been the bright spot in the second half of 2026. The rookie is 3-0 in five starts with a 2.33 ERA over 27 innings, along with 23 strikeouts and nine walks since the All-Star break. His most recent outing came Aug. 14 against the Boston Red Sox at PNC Park, when he allowed two earned runs over five innings, gave up four hits and two walks and struck out five in the Pirates’ 8-4 win.
It wasn’t spotless, but Chandler navigated traffic and did enough to get through the five innings Pittsburgh needed. He hasn’t allowed more than three runs in any start since the break, and his walk rate has dropped to three per nine innings after sitting at 5.3 BB/9 before the All-Star break. The rookie has clearly settled in fast, handling adversity better than he did earlier in the season.
Jones comes in with a different kind of momentum. August started rough for him after a strong July, as he gave up 11 runs and three home runs over seven innings across his first two starts of the month.
That included three runs over four innings in the Pirates’ 4-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Aug. 4 and eight runs over three innings in the 11-0 loss to the New York Mets on Aug. 9.
He looked sharper against the Red Sox on Aug. 13, allowing one solo home run over five innings while giving up four hits and two walks and striking out seven in the Pirates’ 4-0 loss. Jones worked out of two jams in that start, with runners in scoring position in both the third and fourth innings, and came through unscathed. He also mixed in more changeups and curveballs than he had been using lately, after leaning heavily on the four-seam fastball and slider since early July.
That bounce-back matters because Jones is still operating under a pitch limit and innings restriction of 85 pitches and five innings. If he can keep giving Pittsburgh effective starts, it would go a long way, especially with the Dodgers and Skubal on the other side.
The final game is less settled, and the Pirates have already seen Carmen Mlodzinski struggle in recent starts. He has started his last three games, and the results have been rough: 13 runs allowed over 8.1 innings for a 14.04 ERA, with Pittsburgh losing all three.
He gave up five runs over three innings in the 6-4 loss to the Mets on Aug. 7, four runs over 2.1 innings in the 8-2 loss to the Miami Marlins on Aug. 12, and four runs over three innings in the 8-5 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Aug. 19.
Mlodzinski has been hit hard, allowing a 53.8% hard-hit rate and a .455 batting average against. One option for Pittsburgh is Yohan Ramírez in a spot start, followed by Mlodzinski in a bulk role. Ramírez handled a spot start well against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on July 30, striking out four over two scoreless innings.
Another possibility is rookie right-hander Antwone Kelly, who is on the roster and could fill a bulk role. However the Pirates handle that final game, the challenge is obvious. With Mitch Keller out for the season, they need somebody to step up and give them something dependable.
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