Paul Skenes finally got back in the win column Sunday, but the outing did not look like the kind of overpowering showcase that first made him feel inevitable.
The Pirates right-hander beat the Angels for his first victory in eight starts, snapping a stretch in which he had gone 5-3 with a 5.77 ERA. Even in a shutout effort, though, he was out of the game one out into the fifth inning and finished with just two strikeouts, matching a career low for any start of at least one inning.
The radar gun told part of the story, too. Skenes touched 98 mph twice, a number that would usually be eye-opening for almost any pitcher but looked modest next to the 20 times he reached that mark in an April start.
The encouraging detail was that he hit 98 mph in three straight starts for the first time since June. Still, his four-seam fastball averaged 96.7 mph, the lowest it has been over his last four outings.
That’s where Skenes’ season has landed: in a place where necessity has forced him to become more of a craftsman than a pure power arm. The swing-and-miss stuff that once let him overpower hitters has not been there in the same way, and he has had to adjust on the fly.
What stands out most is simple: for some reason, Skenes has lost the ability to dial up elite velocity when he needs it.
He has two starts left, and possibly three if he takes the ball on the final weekend of the season. After that, he’ll have to sort through what happened to his velocity and what changes might be needed in his pitch mix.
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Bryan Reynolds Is Heating Up At The Perfect Time For Pirates
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Reynolds now has an active 18-game on-base streak, the longest in Major League Baseball, and it has come as the Pirates try to stay in the National League Wild Card chase with 17 games left. The timing could hardly be better for a team that needs its best hitters to keep producing if it wants September to mean something. Reynolds is giving them exactly that kind of late-season lift, even if the bigger question around the club is still waiting to be answered. [Read more 🡒]