The drama of the 2026 season is continuing for Paul Skenes.
The Pittsburgh Pirates ace pitcher Skenes was unhappy with the team’s decision to give him some extra rest in between his previous two starts, Pittsburgh sportswriter Andrew Fillipponi reports this week. Fillipponi adds though that there are currently no plans for the Pirates to shut down Skenes, who is still expected to make his next start as scheduled on Tuesday against the San Diego Padres.
Skenes, the reigning NL Cy Young winner, was curiously scratched from a scheduled start last Sunday against the Boston Red Sox. Instead, Skenes got pushed back to a start the following Wednesday against the Detroit Tigers (and still did not end up doing too swimmingly).
The 24-year-old Skenes has been showing a steady decline in his velocity throughout the year. Skenes looked so unlike himself that, at one point, Pirates manager Don Kelly pulled him from a start after just 65 pitches thrown (with Skenes also later hinting at some unhappiness about that decision).
Overall on the year, Skenes is 9-11 with a 3.95 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP through 26 starts. For comparison, Skenes’ Cy Young-winning year last season saw him go 10-10 with a 1.97 ERA and a 0.95 WHIP (both NL-leading marks) through 32 total starts.
At this point, the 63-66 Pirates are 5.5 games out of a Wild Card spot with 33 games left, so there is still something for them to play for. But the end of the season might be a welcome sight for Pittsburgh fans given the extent of just how much Skenes’ performance has dipped.
