Let’s start with the obvious: The Pirates’ pitching staff has been bad as of late, particularly the bullpen.

As a whole, Pittsburgh’s relievers have a combined ERA of 5.50 across 260 innings pitched as of the conclusion of the Braves series — good for 28th among 30 MLB teams. The only two bullpens doing a worse job are Baltimore and Washington.

As of the series in Atlanta, the Bucs’ bullpen has given up the third-most runs on the year with 171 and the third-most walks with 129.

Only two Pirates relievers, Felipe Vazquez and Kyle Crick, have ERAs under 4.00. Theirs sit at 2.22 and 2.82, respectively.

As for the rest?

Only Clay Holmes (4.50) and Keona Kela (4.63) have sub-5.00 ERAs.

The starters aren’t faring much better.

The starting rotation’s combined ERA of 4.99 is good for No. 22 out of 30, and the starters were getting shelled more than usual during the team’s seven-game losing streak last week, which dropped the Bucs to eight games below .500.

Francisco Liriano’s ERA of 2.27 is the only one in the rotation below 3.00, and perhaps the biggest problem has been the injury bug, which has hit different pitchers at different times throughout the year so far.

Pittsburgh’s starters have also only gone 339 innings through 67 games played, which ranks them at No. 24. In other words, struggling starters are coming out early in games and being replaced by relievers who are struggling even more.

Simply put, this staff has become a severe problem at a time the Pirates can’t afford one.

As of now, the Bucs are 8.5 games behind Milwaukee in the N.L. Central and seven games behind Philadelphia in the Wild Card standings.

But what to do? Do the Pirates take the approach Seattle did heading into this year and go full fire sale? Or do they try and compete for a Wild Card spot and make the postseason?

Depending on which direction the Pirates take, there are a few options.

In either scenario, it makes all the sense in the world to look at trading an outfielder first, especially since the Bucs drafted a pair of outfielders with their second round and competitive balance picks.

The trading has to start with Melky Cabrera.

The 34-year-old is having a bit of a resurgence, as he’s batting above .300, at .328 as of Thursday, for the first time since 2014.

But he’s on a one-year deal for $1.15 million, and, again, he’s 34. Even with his stellar season, shopping him around in the coming weeks for either prospects or MLB-ready pitchers from another team needs to happen.

Particularly so, because proven outfielder Corey Dickerson is finally off of the injured list, and the rookie that took his place, Bryan Reynolds, has proven to be a reliable option thus far.

Reynolds is batting .340 and has knocked in 21 RBI in 47 games for the Buccos as of Thursday night.

Dickerson, meanwhile, is a career .283 batter. But his contract situation is where things get dicey, as he’s a free agent after this season. So, too, is star center fielder Starling Marte, a career .286 batter. Both Dickerson and Marte are 30 years old.

Fellow 30-year-old outfielder Lonnie Chisenhall has spent all season on the injured list, making him an unrealistic trade piece even if he is a free agent at the conclusion of this season.

Depending on the direction the Pirates want to take, it may make sense to trade either Dickerson or Marte, which would leave Pittsburgh with an outfield of Dickerson/Marte, Reynolds, Chisenhall (if he ever returns from the injured list) and Gregory Polanco, who is under contract through 2021.

The next place to look is at the catcher position. The Pirates have three players with plenty of experience behind the plate in Francisco Cervelli, Jacob Stallings and Elias Diaz, and all are free agents after the season.

With Diaz batting .280 through 125 at-bats this year, it’s hard to imagine the Pirates don’t try to sign him to an extension this offseason.

That leaves 33-year-old Cervelli and 29-year-old Stallings. Cervelli has routinely struggled with injuries, particularly concussions, and was also facing his fair share of struggles at the plate even before his most recent injury.

Stallings, meanwhile, has been used only sparingly thus far in 2019. In either case, the Pirates would probably be looking at including one of the two in a package deal with an outfielder and extending the other.

One thing this organization can’t afford anymore of, though, is misses on trades.

With the pressure on and the bullpen struggling, Bucs GM Neal Huntington certainly has his work cut out for him, no matter which direction he decides to take the Steel City’s baseball club.

(Joel Whetzel, a sports reporter for the Bradford Era, can be reached at jwhetzel@bradfordera.com.)