David Cone knows exactly what it looks like when a pitcher’s best gear starts to slip, and he sees some of that same challenge building for Paul Skenes.
During Wednesday’s Yankees YES Network broadcast, Cone said the Pirates ace is facing “a tough adjustment” as his velocity has dipped and the margin for error has narrowed. Skenes, who had been living in the upper-90s, is now sitting in the mid-90s, and Cone said that makes him “more hittable this year, obviously.” Cone’s message was simple: the young right-hander is going to have to adapt.
Skenes’ recent line backed up the concern. He hasn’t worked six innings in any of his last five starts, and on Wednesday he gave up four hits and three earned runs in 4 1/3 innings in Pittsburgh’s 4-3 win over the Detroit Tigers. He also walked four and struck out five.
The season numbers still look strong in spots, but they also show a pitcher who hasn’t been as dominant as expected. Skenes is 9-11 with a 3.95 ERA, 171 strikeouts and a 1.14 WHIP.
Cone didn’t speak about it from a distance. He drew on his own experience, pointing back to the 2000 season when he was 37 and went 4-14 with a 6.91 ERA. He said he had seen something recently that showed how much his velocity had fallen and how the movement on his pitches had faded.
“[My arm] felt OK, I just didn’t have the stuff I once did. Therefore, every mistake you made, it didn’t get fouled off. It got hit out of the ballpark.”
That was the kind of night Cone was describing, and it’s the kind of reality he believes Skenes may have to confront sooner rather than later. Cone said pitchers get used to working with a certain level of stuff, and when that changes, they have to relearn how to attack hitters.
“You get used to pitching a certain way with certain stuff and then you don’t have it anymore or you lose a little bit off of it, it’s almost like you gotta learn how to use all your pitches again in a different manner,” he said. “That’s what happened to me in the year 2000, I just couldn’t figure it out. My skills diminished.
“I’m not sure that’s the case with Skenes because he’s younger but it was a tough adjustment late in my career to kind of come to terms with. ‘You know what?
Your stuff’s not as good as it once was. You gotta figure out a different way to do it.’”
Cone’s broadcast partner Michael Kay noted the obvious difference between the two pitchers, pointing out that Cone was far older than Skenes is now. Kay then raised a broader question about modern power pitching, asking, “the way these guys throw now, can [Jacob] Misiorowski throw like this for 2 or 3 years that hard, that consistently?
Can Skenes? Or does the body say, ‘No, not, it’s not normal.”
Cone’s answer was short.
“Valid point,” said Cone.
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