The Penguins were projected to be a non-playoff team before the season, maybe as bad as bottom-five in the NHL.

But then a lot went right.

Anthony Mantha scored a career-high 33 goals.

After two disappointing campaigns in Pittsburgh, Erik Karlsson resurrected his game and earned team MVP.

Twelve players hit double figures in goals, including two fourth-liners.

Journeymen like Ryan Shea and Parker Wotherspoon morphed into top-four defensemen.

President of hockey ops/GM Kyle Dubas robbed Columbus of Egor Chinakhov, a legit top-six winger.

Dan Muse, in his first season in charge, navigated his way to being a finalist for NHL coach of the year honors.

The result of all that was an unexpected playoff spot.

Fast-forward to the Pirates.

None of that is happening.

Quite the opposite, in fact.

Paul Skenes is flirting with being merely above-average. His ERA is 3.00. He’s lost velocity. The Pirates are 6-5 in games he started.

Bryan Reynolds has one home run in his last 40 games.

Oneil Cruz is on pace to set the MLB record for strikeouts in a season.

Bubba Chandler leads MLB in walks allowed.

Henry Davis is hitting .139. No matter what his acumen behind the plate might be, nobody hitting .139 can remain a big-league regular, or in the big leagues at all. Whether he washes Skenes’ car or not. (Marcell Ozuna isn’t much better at .189.)

Not all the players mentioned stink.

Well, Davis and Ozuna do. Chandler is a bit gamey.

Skenes has mostly pitched very well. His WHIP is 0.82, MLB’s best. Skenes has been victimized by a few bad innings and by haphazard support at the plate and in the field.

After a rough start, rookie phenom Konnor Griffin is living up to his massive potential.

Nick Gonzales and Braxton Ashcraft are doing more than their part. Mitch Keller is earning his ticket.

But for the Pirates to make the playoffs, their key players have to perform to a certain level.

Those players are Cruz, Reynolds and, more than anybody, Skenes.

Those players are not performing to the standard required.

And so, the Pirates are 4½ games out of first place, two games out of a wild-card spot.

Skenes is MLB’s leader in, arguably, pitching’s most significant stat.

But the Pirates need better.

That’s not fair.

But it’s reality.

Just blame manager Donnie Kelly instead. Or the bullpen. Those seem popular options.

Nobody wears a Kelly jersey. Or one that just says “bullpen.”

Sidney Crosby had 74 points in 68 games. Evgeni Malkin 61 in 56. The Penguins’ stars came through.

Gonzales hitting .308 only helps so much. He’s a fourth-liner.

Skenes’ slight decline in velocity may be self-imposed, designed to downgrade stress on his arm.

Skenes throws seven pitches: four-seamer, slider, sinker, “splinker,” changeup, split-finger fastball and sweeper. In “Major League 2,” Rick Vaughn adds several exotic pitches but loses his fastball. Perhaps Skenes should watch that movie.