It was a short night for Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes. The three-time All-Star was yanked after five innings and 65 pitches against the Miami Marlins, as his velocity took a major dip.
“If I were the manager, I’d probably do it too,” Skenes told Miami-area journalist Tyler Boronski. “He walked me through everything, it all made sense. I wish I could have gone more, but it is what it is.
“I’m always straight with (manager Don Kelly), he always straight with me. He’s the manager, and I don’t really argue with it. Like I said, I understand why and that was it.”
Skenes still pitched reasonably well against the Marlins. His lone blemish in those five innings was a solo home run surrendered to Esteury Ruiz. Skenes left a 95.5 MPH fastball at the top of the zone for Ruiz to slug.
“He put a good swing on it, gotta tip your cap.”
The right-hander finished with a final statline of five innings, five hits, two runs (one earned), one walk, and four strikeouts. The Pirates were shut out 2-0 by Eury Perez and the Marlins.
Paul Skenes Early Hook Leads to More Concerns
The one reason for the early hook may have been Paul Skenes’ four-seam velocity. The pitch averaged a season-low 95.7 MPH against the Marlins. It was down 1.2 MPH from his season average of 96.9. Not a single fastball clocked above that mark, as he topped out at 96.5.
His velocity problems drew reactions across social media. Some baseball fans claim there may be an underlying injury that Skenes is pitching through. A pitcher who was once living 98-100 MPH the past two seasons is living more in the 95-97 MPH range.
Skenes doesn’t seem to be concerned about a potential injury. There wasn’t any mention of such in the postgame scrum captured by Boronski. Even as the concerns add up on social media, there’s been no record of any injury affecting the Pirates ace this season.
However, the velocity drop for Skenes may force him to reinvent himself on the mound. The right-hander carries a very deep mix of six pitches, so he should be able to age better when relying more on command and changing speeds than overpowering hitters.
Paul Skenes Experiencing Down Season in 2026
It’s been a down year for the former No. 1 overall pick. After back-to-back sub-2.00 ERA seasons, Skenes has a 3.88 ERA in 25 starts. More advanced run-prevention metrics still paint the right-hander as a frontline starter, with a 3.00 FIP and 3.18 xFIP over 134.1 innings.
In his previous seven starts, Skenes carries a 6.26 ERA. However, much of that could be attributed to bad luck. The right-hander has yielded a .398 BABIP in that stretch and stranded only 58.9% of baserunners.
It’s a tough stretch for any pitcher to endure, as it’s much like a hitting slump. Balls are falling in at inopportune moments, which is inflating his run total. However, it’s also a small sample size. He has a 3.14 FIP and a 3.53 xFIP during that tough run.
One season doesn’t necessarily define a career. The Pirates will still have three years of control for one of the top pitchers in baseball.
Pirates Ace Paul Skenes Gets Honest About Early Hook vs. Marlins