Paul Skenes Gets Bounce Back Opportunity for Pirates
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates have one of the best pitchers in baseball in Paul Skenes, who is coming off an unusual situation
Skenes struggled in his most recent start vs. the Philadelphia Phillies, where he tied his career-high with five earned runs allowed over five innings pitched in a 6-0 defeat in the series finale at PNC Park on May 17.
He now gets his chance to show that his start vs. the Phillies was an aberration, as he faces the Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre on May 23.
It's a big moment for Skenes, who wants to prove everyone that he's still a serious candidate for the National League Cy Young Award.
Why Phillies Start Was So Strange for Skenes
Skenes actually pitched really well against the Phillies early on, as he struck out the side in order in the first inning and didn't allow a hit until the fourth inning.
Things started getting bad for him in the fifth inning, as he issued his first walk in more than a month and gave up two hits, putting the Phillies up 2-0.
Skenes then allowed a solo home run to first baseman Bryce Harper and two more hits before Pirates manager Don Kelly took him out for right-handed relief pitcher Isaac Mattson, who hit a batter and gave up a double that scored two more runs.
The Pirates ace regularly relies on his four-seam fastball and has had great success with it this season, but the Phillies got on it pretty well late on, with four hard-hits on five batted ball events.
Philadelphia also got on Skenes' sinker, with three hard hits on four batted ball events, finishing with nine hard-hits on 14 batted ball events in total
Skenes came into this game with no runs allowed in May and him not having the effectiveness he's had later on was surprising, but it's a reminder that he isn't always going to toss a gem.
Why Skenes Can Respond With Big Start vs. Toronto
Skenes has only really had three bad starts in 2026, which includes the Phillies, his five earned runs in the first inning on Opening Day vs. the New York Mets at Citi Field on March 26 and his three earned runs and five runs allowed vs. the St. Louis Cardinals at PNC Park on April 30.
He has just three earned runs allowed in his seven other starts, combined, which over 44.1 innings pitched is a 0.61 ERA.
Skenes also came into that start vs. the Phillies after back-to-back starts vs. the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on May 6 and the Colorado Rockies at PNC Park on May 12, where he threw eight scoreless innings and allowed just two hits in each start, while throwing a combined 17 strikeouts.
He also had perfect games going into the fifth inning in both starts and took a no-hitter into the seventh inning vs. the Rockies, almost making MLB history
Skenes still has both the lowest WHIP (0.71) and BB/9 (1.31), the best K/BB (7.88) and the second-lowest batting average allowed (.161) of any qualified pitcher in baseball.
He also has experience against this Blue Jays team, who he allowed two innings over six innings and posted eight strikeouts in a 5-2 win at PNC Park on Aug. 18, 2025.
This Blue Jays lineup that has struggled this season, with the fourth-worst OPS (.675), fifth-worst slugging percentage (.369), while ranking amongst the bottom 10 teams in home runs (45, tied-eighth), RBI (200, ninth) and runs scored (208, ninth).
Skenes has a great chance against Toronto to get his season back on track and dominate like he has done for the Pirates in 2026.
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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.