Paul Skenes has not at all looked like himself this year, and he has an interesting theory as to why.
The Pittsburgh Pirates ace pitcher Skenes spoke this week in an interview to Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. During the interview, Skenes said that he believes pitching in the World Baseball Classic before the season was partly to blame for his struggles in 2026.
“There are a lot of other factors, so I don’t want to put everything on that,” said Skenes. “But I feel like that was kind of the root of it a little bit.
“Usually, that time of year, you’re kind of ramping up and it’s a little bit slow. You can kind of get onto the slope and find your body,” Skenes added. “One live [batting practice], you’re topping at 97 [mph], and then the next you’re 98, 99. And that wasn’t the case this year … Looking back, I don’t think that really helped.”
Skenes, 24, was the NL Cy Young Award winner last season, posting a 1.97 ERA and a 0.95 WHIP with 216 strikeouts. But Skenes has been far less effective this season with a 3.91 ERA, a 1.13 WHIP, and 192 strikeouts. Most troublingly, the righty flamethrower has been exhibiting badly diminshed velocity for much of the year.
For reference, Skenes made just two total appearances (spanning 8.1 innings pitched) for the United States at the World Baseball Classic in March. But Skenes clearly believes that the timing of the event threw off his normal pitching pattern, leading to what has been a frustrating 2026 season for him in more ways than one.
