Paul Skenes continues to trend the wrong way.
The Pittsburgh Pirates ace Skenes drew the start on Tuesday against the Miami Marlins at loanDepot Park in Miami, Fla. Skenes ended up giving up just one earned run on five hits with four strikeouts and a walk.
But Skenes only lasted five innings as Pirates manager Don Kelly decided to yank him after just 65 pitches thrown. Pirates reliever Yohan Ramirez then threw the final three innings in relief as Miami went on to defeat Pittsburgh by a 2-0 final score (thereby resulting in no bottom of the ninth inning).
After the game, Skenes was asked by reporters about Kelly’s controversial decision to pull him. Skenes said that he agreed with the move but added that he wanted to go deeper into the game.
“If I were the manager I’d probably do it too,” said Skenes, per Matt Press of the Pittsbugh Post-Gazette. “Wish I could have gone more, but it is what it is.”
For context, Skenes did once again display some diminished velocity during Tuesday’s start. Notably, it was the very first outing of his MLB career in which the righty flamethrower failed to reach 97 mph on even a single pitch.
The reigning NL Cy Young winner Skenes entered play on Tuesday with a record of 9-10 on a 3.94 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP with 162 strikeouts through his first 24 starts. Skenes was even showing very concerning signs during some of his other recent outings as well.
