Wednesday night was nothing short of a disaster for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Leading 8-3 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, the Pirates would walk out of Daikin Park with their heads hung low, having blown a five-run lead and eventually losing 11-9.

It was yet another loss attributed to the bullpen, an issue that becomes more and more glaring by the day and one that needs to be addressed by general manager Ben Cherington.

Cherington’s early run as general manager in Pittsburgh was plagued with problems. Free agents who were signed only to be traded, a subpar drafting record didn’t yield results, and trade after trade saw the Pirates plundered for talent.

A major part of the reason why the rebuild has taken so long is because of Cherington handing prime talent away for pennies on the dollar. You could form nearly an entire roster based on players the Pirates were ripped off for.

And while those early years should still remain as a blot on Cherington’s record as a front office executive, he does deserve credit for the new leaf he has seemed to turn over in the last year or so.

This new era in operating the ballclub is headlined by the Brandon Lowe trade, where the Pirates managed to do what most other teams do to them: swindle their way into bringing in a big-time batter.

The second baseman is currently slashing .253/.340/.525 (.865 OPS) with 15 home runs and 40 RBI, and the company he brought with him has chipped in as well. While lefty reliever Mason Montgomery has struggled to fully establish himself yet, outfielder Jake Mangum is finally getting to his coveted small ball game, slashing .294/.355/.339 (.694 OPS).

A similarly strong addition was the signing of Ryan O’Hearn. The first free agent to obtain a multi-year contract in Pittsburgh since Ivan Nova a decade ago, O’Hearn has provided stability to the offense with a steady slash line of .290/.368/.467 (.835 OPS) with eight homers and 30 RBI.

In addition to that, Konnor Griffin, though still on the Injured List, has represented another avenue of the multi-pronged effort the Pirates have launched to improve the roster. The 20-year-old rookie phenom has slashed .270/.327/.402 (.729 OPS) with four homers and 22 RBI so far this season, and will continue to make an impact once he is activated.

Even the trades we thought Cherington lost last summer have turned into some wins.

Dumping the contract of Ke’Bryan Hayes was maybe a symbolic loss, a sign that one of the rare longterm investments the Pirates had made in a player blew up in their face. But as the Gold Glove winner continues to struggle harshly with the bat, the Pirates have better rounded out their offense in his absence.

The Bailey Falter trade was iffy at best when the Pirates moved him to Kansas City in July, but Cherington found a formidable reliever for in Evan Sisk and a power prospect in Callan Moss.

For all of this bullpen’s problems, Sisk is one of the very few arms who has consistently performed. The lefty is posting a 1.44 ERA with a 1.040 WHIP and 3.33 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and surrendered just one run in the month of May. Moss, meanwhile, is currently in Double-A Altoona.

All of these moves, whether by trading, signing, or drafting, are things that a good general manager does. But there’s a difference between doing what a good general manager does, and actually becoming one yourself. And for Cherington and the Pirates, solving this bullpen marks the difference.

The Pirates have lost five games this year when leading after six innings, and four when leading after seven. They’ve blown 13 saves. In a very competitive NL Central and on a team only a few games above .500, it might very well cost them their season.

A rotation consisting of names like Paul Skenes and Braxton Ashcraft deserve to not watch lead after lead evaporate once they hand the ball over to the relief staff. Skenes said as much after the collapse on Thursday.

Whatever the Pirates do, they can’t afford to just sit back and hope that the issue corrects itself. It’s June and it hasn’t; if it hasn’t already, time is very quickly running out.

But there’s only so many names they can try out from Triple-A, and while some of the guys throwing down in Indianapolis might be able to help, the Pirates need more. They need major league help.

Does one trade fix this bullpen? Probably not. But it shows some urgency, aggression, and an understanding that things cannot continue in their current state. If Cherington wants to make himself a truly good general manager, he’ll have to find a way to execute a trade like that, not only to save his earlier work this year, but to save the best chance for winning baseball he’s ever had during his time in Pittsburgh.