The Pirates entered the 2019 season boasting one of the strongest rotations on paper in MLB: Jameson Taillon, Trevor Williams, Joe Musgrove, Chris Archer and Jordan Lyles. And while those five came blazing out of the gates, putting up gaudy numbers just as many anticipated, that soon faltered, in part due to injuries and in part due to lesser play from the men on the mound.
In mid-May, this reached a tipping point, with Taillon, Archer and Williams all ending up on the IL.