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Paul Skenes entered the 2026 MLB season as arguably the best pitcher in the game.
The top pick of the 2023 MLB Draft was the Rookie of the Year in 2024 and won the NL Cy Young Award in 2025 with a sterling 1.97 ERA.
After a disastrous 2026 opening day that saw him give up five runs and fail to escape the first inning, the Pittsburgh Pirates ace settled back in, getting his ERA back below 2 by May 12 and keeping it at 3 or below until it hit 3.10 on June 26.
Skenes’ ERA sits at 3.90 now after he lasted just four innings on Friday night, giving up seven hits (including two homers) and five runs. The Pirates ended up losing 8-7 to the Cincinnati Reds, though Skenes did not take the loss.
“It took pretty much an inning to find my delivery, which happens. Usually it doesn’t look that bad in the first inning,” Skenes said postgame. “Just pretty sloppy all around.”
It’s the second consecutive rough start for Skenes. He struck out 11 against the Chicago Cubs but gave up five runs in 5.1 innings in his July 25 start. This now marks an unfortunate first for Skenes − back-to-back starts allowing five earned runs.
On July 1, Skenes also lasted just four innings, giving up eight runs (seven earned) in a 10-6 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.
So, what’s gone wrong for Skenes this month?
“I think today was extreme. Today was just straight up the sloppiest outing of the year for me,” Skenes reiterated when asked about his month. “I think other than that, probably haven’t been getting ahead in counts enough. You know, walking guys, giving up contact when I don’t really want to be giving up contact at times.
“Up until today I think I’ve viewed the past month or so as me throwing the ball pretty well even though it doesn’t look like it at all, really. The month as a whole I don’t think has been terrible. Today was pretty terrible.”
Codify Baseball noted a clear drop in Skenes’ top pitch velocity over the course of his 23 starts this season. In five of Skenes’ past six starts, he’s failed to top 98 mph, per Codify Baseball.
“It’s been an interesting year, a little bit,” Skenes said when asked how he moves forward after his frustrating outings. “But, it could be a lot worse. We’ll figure it out. I’m going to figure it out. But it could be a lot worse.”