Pirates' Paul Skenes Makes Interesting Pitch Mix Decision
In this story:
PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes went with a different approach than normal in his most recent start vs. the Washington Nationals at PNC Park.
Skenes decided that he would throw his changeup more than any other pitch in the 16-5 rout of the Nationals in the series opener on April 13, straying away from his normal high speed pitches like the four-seam fastball and sinker.
It ended up working out well, as Skenes gave up a solo home run and a walk over 88 pitches and six innings, as he had another strong start for the Pirates.
"We flipped the script a little bit," Skenes said on going to the changeup. "I don't know. Kind of, probably changed the way we might look at pitching a little bit."
Why Skenes Went More With the Changeup
Skenes threw his changeup 36% of the time vs. the Nationals, more than his four-seam fastball at 32%, and his sweeper at 19% of the time.
Skenes' Pitch Usage vs. Nationals
Pitch | Usage | Year Usage |
|---|---|---|
Changeup | 32/88 (36%) | 14% |
Four-Seam Fastball | 28/88 (32%) | 39% |
Sweeper | 17/88 (19%) | 10% |
Curveball | 6/88 (5%) | 3% |
Sinker | 3/88 (3%) | 22% |
Splitter | 3/88 (3%) | 7% |
He only threw three sinkers all game, which is about 3%, a big drop from 22%, normally his second-most used pitch behind the four-seam fastball.
Skenes used his changeup incredibly well, getting 10 whiffs on 19 swings (53%) and three strikeouts, throwing all 32 of them against the Nationals left-handed hitters.
The 23-year old said postgame that he noticed the Nationals couldn't deal with his changeup, so it made sense to continue going with it.
"I mean (the changeup) just felt good today," Skenes said on his decision. "That was it. Just felt good coming out of the hand. Got some bad swings on it early in the game. We just kept throwing it."
Skenes Finding Cy Young Form Again
There aren't many pitchers as good as Skenes is when he's on his game and he's been pitching like that over his past three starts.
Skenes has allowed just three earned runs over his last 17.1 innings pitched for a 1.56 ERA, with just six hits and five walks allowed as well, while posting 17 strikeouts.
It comes after a surprisingly disappointing outing vs. the New York Mets at Citi Field on Opening Day, where he gave up five runs and didn't make it out of the first inning.
Skenes is now down to a modest 4.00 ERA, but he's looked like the pitcher he was the past two seasons, which was one that won the 2024 National League Rookie of the Year Award and the 2025 NL Cy Young Award.
It's not likely Skenes continues throwing his changeup as much in future starts, but when something is working, he's not one to stop that.
"Yeah I mean we might go out next outing and only throw changeups," Skenes said. "It worked well today. Just go Tommy Kahnle with it and just keep throwing changeups, 100 in a row. Why not?"
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.