Paul Skenes has not delivered the version of himself the Pittsburgh Pirates were hoping for in 2026. That part is hard to argue with.
What is far harder to defend is pinning the Pirates’ playoff miss on him as if he were the main culprit.
That’s the leap ESPN’s Bradford Doolittle made when he labeled Skenes Pittsburgh’s biggest disappointment of the season, leaning on the right-hander’s 10-11 record, 3.78 ERA and the Pirates’ 13-17 mark in his 30 starts. The basic idea is simple enough: the Pirates finally gave Skenes a better team, and their ace still didn’t carry them the way he was expected to.
There is a sliver of truth in that. But the fuller picture matters.
Skenes’ 3.78 ERA is a clear step back from the outrageous standard he set in his first two seasons. Still, calling that “mediocrity” goes too far for a pitcher who also owns a 3.23 FIP, 1.13 WHIP and 185 strikeouts against 46 walks in 162 innings. His ERA- sits at 87, which means he has still been better than league average by that measure.
That’s not the same thing as greatness. It’s also not mediocrity.
The bigger issue is that the Pirates’ record in Skenes starts cannot be laid entirely at his feet. Saturday at Wrigley Field made that point pretty plainly.
Skenes gave Pittsburgh seven innings, allowed two runs and left with a 3-2 lead. Gregory Soto then gave up two runs in the eighth, and the Pirates fell 4-3.
That’s another loss folded into the 13-17 record that’s being used against Skenes. What was he supposed to do there, throw the eighth inning too?
The bullpen hasn’t been a side note either. By June 28, Pirates relievers had already blown 17 of 34 save chances.
And the pitching staff around Skenes never stayed intact long enough to make this a clean comparison. Mitch Keller went down with a season-ending shoulder injury in August. Braxton Ashcraft, an All-Star with a 3.65 ERA over 165 1/3 innings, landed on the injured list in September because of arm discomfort.
Then there was the offense, which went into a tailspin in August while injuries piled up across the lineup. By the time Pittsburgh started playing better in September, the hole was already too deep.
None of that means Skenes should be above criticism. The Pirates expected one of baseball’s best pitchers, and they didn’t always get that level. But there’s a wide gap between saying he hasn’t been dominant enough and making him the face of a playoff failure he didn’t create.
Pittsburgh didn’t need Skenes to duplicate a Cy Young season to reach October. It needed the rest of the roster to stop asking him to be Superman every fifth day.
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Pirates Make Desperate Lineup Bet To Avoid Brewers Sweep
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It is the kind of lineup bet teams make when a series is slipping away and the opposing starter already has the upper hand. Pittsburgh has leaned on platoon thinking and a few personnel tweaks to give itself a better look against Harrison, with the goal of avoiding a sweep and getting something going before the day is over. [Read more 🡒]