Why Pirates' Paul Skenes Was Removed From Game After Season-Low 64 Pitches

Skenes pitched five scoreless innings while notching his 200th strikeout of the season.

Skenes is well on his way towards his first career Cy Young Award. / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

National League Cy Young Award frontrunner Paul Skenes cruised through five scoreless innings, striking out eight batters in the Pirates' 2-1 loss on Wednesday. But, to the surprise of some, Skenes was removed from the game after throwing just 64 pitches, a season-low for the 2024 NL Rookie of the Year.

So, what gives? Why did Pirates manager Don Kelly take the ball from Skenes when he seemingly had gas left in the tank?

After the contest, Kelly told reporters that he had a specific workload in mind for Skenes entering the game, with an eye on preserving the righthander for the remainder of 2025 and beyond.

"Yeah. Like we’ve talked about with all the guys," Kelly said. "Just trying to make sure that we’re managing their workload, make sure that they’re going all the way through the end of the season healthy and ready to finish a full season and be ready for next year."

Skenes, to his credit, took it in stride.

"The main goal that I’ve had coming into the past two years is making every start," Skenes told The Associated Press. "There are opportunities to give and take throughout the season, and tonight was kind of one of those. I probably needed it, to be honest."

Limiting Skenes's workload this late in the season certainly makes sense, especially considering that the 82-loss Pirates will miss the postseason for a 10th consecutive season.

The Pirates ace now has 203 strikeouts in 2025, giving him 200-plus in a single campaign for the first time in his career. Skenes is also sporting an MLB-best 1.92 ERA in 178 innings pitched.

His 1.94 career ERA is the lowest through a pitcher's first 53 career starts dating back to 1920, according to Sarah Langs.

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