Heaney's struggles continue as Trade Deadline approaches

PITTSBURGH -- The question isn’t if the Pirates will be sellers this Trade Deadline but rather how active they will be.

They cracked the seal Wednesday when they sent Adam Frazier to the Royals for Minor League infielder Cam Devanney. The move was hardly a surprise: He was a veteran on an expiring contract, and the focus is turning to next year.

“We’re in a situation we don’t want to be in,” general manager Ben Cherington said on his 93.7 The Fan radio show Sunday afternoon. “We need to find ways over the next several days to July 31 to put ourselves in a better situation going forward, to increase the chances of the Pirates being a winning team in 2026 and beyond. That’s our only focus.”

The Pirates have several players on expiring deals that could be moved and help achieve that goal of building a better 2026 club. It’s why Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Caleb Ferguson and Tommy Pham could be on the move before the July 31 Deadline. Basically, if you’re a free agent at the end of the year (and you’re not Andrew McCutchen), you’re on the trade block.

That includes Andrew Heaney. The veteran southpaw was one of the Pirates’ best starters in the early parts of this season, but has struggled over the last month.

Sunday at PNC Park was another rough outing for the lefty, who allowed seven runs and was pulled before recording an out in the fifth. The White Sox went on to complete their sweep of the Pirates in a 7-2 decision.

The White Sox jumped on Heaney early. Chase Meidroth drove the game’s second pitch to the wall in right-center, resulting in a fan-interfered double. Three batters later, Miguel Vargas cleared the fence to put a three-run homer into the bullpen. One batter later, Mike Tauchman cleared the ballpark to put a solo shot into the Allegheny River.

Heaney ended up being pulled after 4-plus innings of work, allowing seven runs on nine hits and two walks with one strikeout. He also allowed 13 hard-hit balls, the most by a Pirate in a single game this season.

"They jumped on the fastball,” manager Don Kelly said. “He wasn't able to get ahead of some guys there in the first inning, and they jumped on the fastball. They drove it into the gaps and got the home run. You saw him start spinning it a little more after that, got them off balance a little bit -- just seemed like they were all over the heater."

Heaney was more blunt with his assessment:

"When you fall behind, you don't have much to get guys out with. I guess narrow margin of error. I've got to go make better pitches."

Falling behind hitters and not executing has been a recurring problem for Heaney over the past month. Since June 19, he has allowed 28 earned runs over 23 2/3 innings pitched, skyrocketing his season ERA from 3.33 to 5.03.

It’s come at a very inopportune time for the Pirates, not just for trying to win more in 2025 but also to try to build a better 2026 team. A veteran with a mid-three ERA would be one of the better starting pitchers on the market this year. It seems unlikely they’ll get that type of return now.

Of course, the Pirates’ issues extend beyond just Heaney’s slump. They’ve dropped 11 out of their past 12, and their 27 runs allowed against the White Sox were the most they’ve surrendered in a series this year.

"On the road trip, we had a lot of one-run, in-the-game battles,” Kelly said. “This series was not, obviously. Looking forward to starting the series tomorrow, we'll have Paul [Skenes] on the mound, having that sense of urgency, that energy coming out.

“It's tough when you fall behind early like we did in the first game, in the third game and finding ways to have that energy. The offense drives that energy. The way that we have our at-bats, continue to compete, run the bases well, that's what we've got to get back to and continue to work on and continue to get better at."