Paul Skenes Flirting With Perfection Shows Pirates Growth
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PITTSBURGH — Paul Skenes didn't get the end result he wanted from his most recent start, but the Pittsburgh Pirates know they have their star pitcher back and also getting better than before in 2026.
Skenes had a chance for a perfect game against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field, retiring the first 20 batters, before giving up a single to first baseman Jake Bauers with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning.
He would get the final out of the inning and helped lead the Pirates to a 6-0 victory over their divisional rival on the road on April 24 for the best outing of his major league career.
Skenes might not have achieved greatness on the mound in his mind, but the Pirates have the best pitcher in baseball in great form once again.
How Skenes Dominated the Brewers
It was a quick going for Skenes early on, as the Brewers hitters couldn't deal with level of pitching from the very start.
Skenes kept up his velocity, averaging about 97-98 mph on his four-seam fastball and sinker, while also incorporationg his splitter or "splinker" almost 30% of the time.
He finished with seven strikeouts on the game and got three of them on his four-seam fastball and four of the on his splinker, generating five whiffs on each pitch as well.
Pitch | Usage | Average Velocity |
|---|---|---|
Four-Seam Fastball | 38/93 (41%) | 97.9 mph |
Splitter | 27/93 (29%) | 93.8 mph |
Sinker | 14/93 (15%) | 97.3 mph |
Sweeper | 11/93 (12%) | 83.5 mph |
Changeup | 3/93 (3%) | 90.4 mph |
He was at 80 pitches at the start of the seventh inning, but ended his night on 93 pitches, with seven of those pitches coming in the at-bat Bauers broke the perfect game chance.
Skenes had an outing against the Brewers as a rookie on July 11, 2024, where he threw seven no-hit innings before he got taken out. The Pirates bullpen surrendered two hits to end the no-hitter, but still got the 2-0 win.
This start was one where Skenes was 100% focused on getting outs and keeping it scoreless and he wasn't even worried about the perfect game for the most part.
“Yeah there are a lot of pitchers that have gone six perfect [innings] so I wasn’t thinking about it a ton," Skenes said postgame. "I’ve gone, I’ve had no-hit outings and gotten pulled. I know it was close. It’s really just executing and putting up more zeros and doing anything to win the game.”
The Pirates have never had a perfect game in their long history as a franchise, but Skenes becomes one of six pitchers in the modern era (since 1901) that threw seven scoreless innings, allowing one or no hits, no walks and posted seven strikeouts in a game.
Skenes Showing He's Aiming for Another Cy Young Award
There weren't many ways that Opening Day could've gone worse for Skenes, as he allowed five earned runs and got taken out of the game before the end of the first inning.
While center fielder Oneil Cruz's mistakes played a role in that early departure, Skenes clearly wasn't at his best and struggled in areas that he normally never does.
Skenes is back to his best form and one that puts him on track towards competing for a Cy Young Award.
He finished April with a 4-0 record in five starts, allowing three earned runs over 28.1 innings for a 0.95 ERA, 29 strikeouts to five walks, a .106 batting average allowed (BAA) and a 0.53 WHIP.
That Opening Day start has Skenes' ERA at a 2.48, slightly above his 1.96 ERA as a rookie in 2024 and his 1.97 ERA last season, but it's obvious he's pitching at the level he's done prior, but maybe now even better.
Pirates manager Don Kelly didn't have the hard decision of whether or not he should keep Skenes in there, but he saw greatness on the mound and that the 23-year old is still improving every time he takes the mound.
“I think sometimes we lose sight of the fact that he came up two years ago and he’s in his third season in the big leagues and he’s continuing to get better, which is amazing considering what he’s already done in the game," Kelly said postgame.
"To be able to put Opening Day behind him and pitch the way that he’s pitched since just speaks to who he is and what he means to the team as a leader and a guy on the mound that goes out to dominate every time he takes the ball.”
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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.