Pirates’ Paul Skenes’ Rocky Season Gets All-Star Boost
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WASHINGTON — Paul Skenes is in a rough spot right now, but the Pittsburgh Pirates ace is still amongst the best in baseball.
MLB announced Skenes as an All-Star on July 4, naming him as one of the best starting pitchers in the National League and will have Skenes at the All-Star Game at Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies, on July 14.
Skenes earns his third consecutive All-Star nod in his first three seasons, starting the game for the National League his first two seasons as a rookie in 2024 and then in 2025, when he won the NL Cy Young Award.
This season hasn't gone exactly how Skenes has wanted it to, but it was still a big honor for the 24-year old.
“Yeah it’s always awesome," Skenes said. "It’s an awesome recognition. All-Star game is always fun so it’s going to be cool."
Skenes in the Midst of First MLB Slump
The first two seasons for Skenes saw him dominate major league hitting routinely and easily, making him one of the most dominant aces in baseball.
Skenes has recently struggled in starts, not getting out of innings he normally does and lacking the same efficiency that he previously had.
He has posted a 5.36 ERA over his past nine starts, allowing 28 earned runs over 47 innings and not winning any of those games.
Skenes has given up at least two runs in all of his starts, only twice just one earned run, and also allowed four earned runs or more four times.
His most recent start was his worst in the major leagues, giving up career-highs of eight runs and seven earned runs in the 10-6 loss to the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on July 1.
Skenes hasn't always had the best defense behind him, with some crucial mistakes not helping, and the Pirates offenes has also struggled at times when he's started, but there have been some issues on Skenes' end as well.
He's also not taken advantage of the two-strike counts as well, walked more guys than usual and given up seven home runs as well, after just four home runs in his first eight starts.
It's given Skenes a 3.62 ERA, much higher than his usual, historic sub-2.00 ERA he put on his first two seasons.
Pirates Need Skenes Back to his Early Form in 2026
Skenes had his Opening Day debacle against the New York Mets, giving up five runs and not making it out of the first inning, with some miscues from center fielder Oneil Cruz, which could've derailed his season.
He instead bounced back and dominated over his next eight starts, winning six of them and posting a 1.09 ERA, with just six earned runs over 49.1 innings pitched, 55 strikeouts to five walks and 2.36 FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching)
Skenes had a perfect game into the seventh inning in the 6-0 win over the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field on April 24.
He also posted back-to-back starts of eight innings pitched, just two hits and no walks allowed and 17 combined strikeouts in a 1-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on May 6 and in the 3-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies at PNC Park on May 12
Skenes still has the advanced metrics in his favor, with the second-lowest expected ERA (2.75) and ninth-lowest FIP (3.15).
He wasn't 100% sure he'd make it on the All-Star team this year, but that he's confident in the way he's pitched and that the fans can see that numbers don't tell the whole story on his season.
"To be honest, probably a little surprised," Skenes said on his All-Star nod. "I think I’ve thrown the ball well, but I don’t think all the numbers necessarily match that and I think that’s probably how a lot of fans feel too. I was shocked that I was the only one so. Yeah, not too happy about that.”
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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.