The Pittsburgh Pirates have had a respectable run in July as they try to gain ground in the National League Central standings. Still, Pittsburgh is not shieing away from making improvements to their team. The Pirates have engaged the Toronto Blue Jays in a trade for utilityman Isiah Kiner-Falefa, ESPN's Jeff Passan reports.
Mark Fiensand of MLB Network provided further details on the trade, stating that Pittsburgh is giving up Double-A outfielder Charles McAdoo to Toronto for Kiner-Falefa.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa looks to help the Pirates push for a playoff spot upon completion of his injury rehab assignment. The 29-year-old is recovering from a knee sprain he suffered in early July.
Through 82 games in 2024, Kiner-Falefa has batted a .292 average, hit seven home runs, and accumulated 33 RBI along with a .758 OPS. Once healthy, his serviceable production to help the Pirates keep climbing the division standings.
The Pirates possess a 54-52 record, which places them third in the NL Central. They have gone 6-4 in their last 10 matchups. Most notably, they won two of three games in both late-July series against the Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals. Philly then lost two of three against the Arizona Diamondbacks and won their first game against the Houston Astros.
Pirates look to keep pushing forward after Blue Jays trade
Pittsburgh hopes to keep improving its record in order to make a push for the 2024 MLB Playoffs. The players they have acquired at the trade deadline should reinforce their efforts. However, they also have help from rising star Paul Skenes. Skenes has broken numerous records after being called up from the Minor League. But he has a big-picture plan that goes beyond his play for the Pirates.
In mid-July, Skenes revealed that after his career is over, he wants “to give back.” One way Skenes sees himself doing so by returning to the Air Force Academy to coach.
“It’s exciting to be kind of labeled as an Air Force guy because that’s part of my background…” Skenes said, via USA Today Sports. “I think it's important to bring as many eyes as possible to the academies. In my recruiting class at the Air Force Academy, I think I might have been the only one that sought out the Air Force Academy. Everybody else got recruited and kind of had to be convinced, or explained to them what the Air Force Academy is and what it's all about, which tells me that people don't know about it as much as they should.”
It will interesting to watch Skenes' career unfold as he tries to help Pittsburgh achieve short and long-term success.
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