Pirates’ Paul Skenes on ‘Odd’ Season: ‘I’m Happy With it Overall’
PITTSBURGH — The Pirates shouldn’t lose very many games when Paul Skenes takes the mound. At the very least, they should win more than they lose when the staff ace is out there.
But following a 6-4 loss to the Reds at PNC Park on Friday night, the Pirates fell to 6-11 in games started by Skenes this season. The worst of it? They’ve lost eight straight when he’s toed the rubber.
“Man, we have to find a way,” manager Don Kelly said when asked about losing eight straight Skenes starts.
The last time the Pirates won with Skenes on the mound was a start against the Rockies in Pittsburgh on May 12. In that game, the reigning National League Cy Young winner worked eight-scoreless innings, which capped off a stretch of eight starts in which Skenes went 6-1 with a 1.08 ERA.
But Skenes has been stuck on six wins for a month and a half now, and the Pirates haven’t been able to come through for him in any of those outings. Like many others, the right-hander hasn’t been able to pinpoint why his team continues to lose with him on the mound.
“I’m not sure,” Skenes said after the game. “Yeah, kind of weird.”
Skenes hasn’t been as effective as he’s historically been during the current skid. In the eight starts since his last win, he’s pitched to a 4.40 ERA. But a strong case can be made that Skenes has put his team in position to win in at least five of those eight starts, five outings in which he’s been charged with two or fewer earned runs.
“I think it does get frustrating for Paul, for the team, for everybody, for me, when Paul has a start and we don’t win,” said Kelly. “We need to find a way to win.”
In Friday night’s start against the Reds, it was one bad inning that plagued Skenes. The Reds sent nine men to the plate and pushed across four runs immediately after the Pirates took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on a Konnor Griffin leadoff home run. Skenes needed 38 pitches to get through the inning.
The deficit put the Pirates in a hole they nearly climbed out of but couldn’t fully escape.
“Just couldn’t get that punchout pitch a little bit and the at-bats ran long,” he said. “They did a good job.”
Skenes’ ERA is now over a full point higher than it was in either of his historic first two years in the big leagues. After posting sub-2.00 marks each season, Skenes now has a 3.10 ERA through 17 starts this season.
While the ERA is higher than what’s come to be expected of Skenes, he’s pleased, albeit perplexed, with how his year has gone up to this point.
“I’m happy with it overall,” he explained. “I think it’s been a little bit odd. But in terms of the controllables, I’ve been happy with how I’ve been throwing and just gonna continue to work to get better.”
Skenes has never had a stretch like this in his brief big-league career. No Pirates pitcher has in a single season since Pittsburgh lost eight straight Johan Oviedo starts in 2023.
Although Skenes hasn’t shown quite the same dominance this year, he’s still pitching at a high level. Until the Pirates are able to rally behind him, he’ll continue to focus on what he can control.
“Gotta remember what’s real,” he said. “Same thing I’ve been saying for eight starts now.”
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Trade him !!! Lol.
Don’t say that too loud–somebody in the Pirate front office might take you seriously. Actually, I’m living in dread that sometime before next spring will come word that Skenes is headed for surgery. Pitchers today need to get off this 100 mph obsession and learn how to pitch instead of just throw. Finesse over force might prolong some careers.