Paul Skenes: Everything you need to know

Skenes (4-2) took the loss Thursday against the Cardinals, allowing five runs (four earned) on eight hits and no walks in five innings. He struck out nine. The Cardinals jumped all over the All-Star right-hander right away, bringing three runs across in the opening frame. One run against Skenes on Thursday went unearned due to a Pittsburgh throwing error, and the hurler was at least able to pitch deep enough into the outing to fan a season-high nine and reach the 100-pitch plateau for the first time this year. Skenes will carry a strong 3.18 ERA, 0.85 WHIP and 39:7 K:BB over 34 innings into his next start, which is projected to come in Arizona.

Skenes (4-1) earned the win Friday against the Brewers, striking out seven and allowing one hit and no walks over seven scoreless innings. Skenes carried a perfect game into the seventh inning, but Jake Bauers' two-out single ended that bid and prompted manager Don Kelly to go to the bullpen after the completion of the frame. Despite completely shutting down Milwaukee's offense, it still wasn't the right-hander's most dominant performance, as he generated just 10 whiffs on 93 total pitches. After surrendering five runs over two-thirds of an inning Opening Day, Skenes has responded with a 0.95 ERA, 0.53 WHIP and 29:5 K:BB across 28.1 frames in his past five starts.

Skenes didn't factor into the decision Saturday against the Rays, allowing three hits and no walks with five strikeouts across four shutout innings. Skenes had a 4-0 lead through four innings and threw just 64 pitches before rain delayed the game two hours and 27 minutes. Pittsburgh's ace obviously didn't come back out to pitch following the lengthy delay. Skenes has yet to throw 90 pitches in any of his five starts to open the 2026 season but now owns a 3-1 record, 3.27 ERA and 23:7 K:BB across 22 innings. Skenes should be well rested ahead of his next start Friday against the Brewers in Milwaukee.