Paul Skenes has fallen back to earth in 2026. The Pirates ace is intent on staying the course

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Paul Skenes insists he has had stretches during his still-burgeoning career when he has had to grit his teeth and grind through it.

The problem is, it rarely seemed like it.

Spending two seasons doing things few pitchers in the history of the game have done — as Skenes did while winning NL Rookie of the Year in 2024 and the NL Cy Young in 2025 with a dazzling arsenal that was frequently unhittable — has a way of raising expectations. Maybe unfairly so to someone only a few months removed from his 24th birthday.

The towering and remarkably mature right-hander is well aware of the standard he has set while becoming one of the faces of the game. There is a weight that comes with it, one he is intent on shouldering even when it's not easy.

And it's not easy at the moment. At least not as easy as Skenes has made it look so often since his electrifying arrival .

So while he feels there are things to be upbeat about during a 4 1/3 inning stint in Wednesday's 4-3 victory over Detroit — particularly a fastball that clicked back into the upper 90s after hovering at 95 mph in a loss to Miami last week — he knows there remains plenty to work on after another outing where the results were just a little off.

“I’ve been learning a lot and I’ll continue to learn a lot," he said after his ERA ticked up to 3.95, more than double his career mark of 1.96 when the season began. "Just got to keep going.”

Skenes allowed three runs on four hits with a season-high tying four walks and five strikeouts while throwing just 46 of his 81 pitches for strikes. While he credited the extended break he received when the Pirates adjusted their rotation over the weekend for the uptick in velocity, the fact that the ball isn't bending to his will remains baffling.

The pitcher who allowed just four or more walks five times in his first 77 appearances has now done it in three of his last four starts.

“I think the walks, it’s frustrating,” he said. “Nobody wants to go out there and walk anybody. Nobody is trying to.”

And yet it is happening. Detroit's Colt Keith and Gleyber Torres both worked free passes in the first inning, and while Skenes emerged from the frame unscathed, he needed 24 pitches to get three outs.

It's one of the reasons manager Don Kelly came to get him following an RBI single by Torres with one out in the fifth gave the Tigers the lead. Skenes was on the hook for the loss — which would have been his 10th in 13 decisions since May 17, a stretch in which his ERA is 5.05 — until Rafael Flores Jr. and Brandon Lowe homered in the ninth to give the Pirates just their second win this season when trailing after eight innings.

A creature of habit like most others who do what he does for a living, Skenes hasn't changed much about his meticulous preparation and is trying to “remember what's real and what's not.”

And what's real?

“Just objective numbers, watching the game, execution, all that stuff,” he said. "Not anything from the outside.”

It's what's happening on “the outside” that leaves his teammates at a loss. While he received a typically warm ovation when he was introduced at PNC Park, criticism of his play — and, in one picture of Skenes walking alongside girlfriend Livvy Dunne on a Miami beach last week that went viral, his physique — has grown as his funk has extended to late summer.

“I think the world’s been spoiled on who Paul Skenes really is,” Lowe said. “He had probably the best starting stretch to a career ever. And now he’s not the greatest pitcher on the face of the planet for a few months, and people were worried and freaking out a bit.”

Lowe is one of the many Pirates who do not count themselves in that group. The veteran second baseman believes what's happening with Skenes is simply the nature of baseball taking its course.

“There’s a reason why there’s not going to be a guy that pitches for 10 years and wins 10 Cy Youngs,” he said. “People adapt, people adjust.”

Skenes spent two seasons overwhelming opponents with a mix of power and precision. The power has dipped a bit. So has the precision. Batters have taken advantage. Now it's up to Skenes to punch back.

The walks are a problem, but one Skenes is confident he can fix. And for as rocky as it feels, the reality is he's still in the top 10 in the majors in strikeouts (171) and his current ERA still ranks in the top 40.

“He's at 3 point whatever instead of his normal one (something)," Lowe said. “That's still pretty good.”

Just not really good. Yet with a nine-game road trip that could define Pittsburgh's season looming, Skenes hopes he's hit his version of rock bottom and is on the way back up.

“I think it’s good just having my body in a really good spot (for) the last month or so of the regular season,” he said. "And hopefully a substantial number of innings after that.”

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