Paul Skenes Struggles Again as Pirates Fall to Reds in Close Matchup

Paul Skenes, once heralded as the best pitcher in baseball, faced another challenging outing on Friday night as the Pittsburgh Pirates battled the Cincinnati Reds. The 2023 MLB Draft’s top pick and the 2024 Rookie of the Year, Skenes had previously won the NL Cy Young Award in 2025 with a remarkable 1.97 ERA. However, his 2026 season has been a rollercoaster ride, marked by inconsistencies that have raised eyebrows.

After a tumultuous start to the season where he allowed five runs without completing the first inning on Opening Day, Skenes found a way to stabilize his performance, managing to bring his ERA below 2 by May 12. Yet, as of now, his ERA has climbed to 3.90 following a four-inning outing against the Reds, where he surrendered seven hits and five runs, including two home runs. The Pirates ultimately fell to the Reds, 8-7, though Skenes did not take the loss.

“It took pretty much an inning to find my delivery, which happens. Usually, it doesn’t look that bad in the first inning,” Skenes reflected in a postgame interview. “Just pretty sloppy all around.” This outing marks his second consecutive start allowing five earned runs, a troubling trend that raises questions about his recent form.

In his previous start against the Chicago Cubs, Skenes struck out 11 batters but still allowed five runs over 5.1 innings. His struggles have been compounded by a pattern of short outings; he lasted just four innings against the Philadelphia Phillies on July 1, giving up eight runs. “I think today was extreme. Today was just straight up the sloppiest outing of the year for me,” he admitted. “I think other than that, probably haven’t been getting ahead in counts enough. You know, walking guys, giving up contact when I don’t really want to be giving up contact at times.”

Despite the rough patches, Skenes remains optimistic about his overall performance this season, stating, “Up until today I think I’ve viewed the past month or so as me throwing the ball pretty well even though it doesn’t look like it at all, really. The month as a whole I don’t think has been terrible. Today was pretty terrible.”

Data from Codify Baseball highlights a notable decline in Skenes’ pitch velocity, revealing that he has failed to exceed 98 mph in five of his last six starts. This season, he has thrown just 95 pitches at that velocity, a stark contrast to his previous seasons where he surpassed this total in multiple starts. “It’s been an interesting year, a little bit,” he said when discussing how to move forward after his recent struggles. “But, it could be a lot worse. We’ll figure it out. I’m going to figure it out. But it could be a lot worse.”

Note: This recap is an independently written summary based on publicly available reporting.