Somehow, Paul Skenes is Getting Even Better

PITTSBURGH — Paul Skenes finished each of his first two big-leagues seasons with a sub-2.00 ERA. But after an Opening Day start against the Mets in New York in which he allowed five runs two-thirds of an inning, it was going to be an uphill climb to try and go three for three to begin his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates .

Here we are in mid May, a mere eight starts after his first of the season, and Skenes’ ERA is once again where it’s been for most of his big-league career.

Skenes tossed eight-shutout innings against the Colorado Rockies in a 3-1 win at PNC Park on Tuesday night to lower his season ERA to 1.98.

“I think I made pitches good enough to get outs throughout the night,” Skenes said following his outing. “I think some of my pitches weren’t as sharp as they normally have been but got them to good spots.”

Skenes carried a perfect game bid into the fifth inning and a no-hitter into the seventh. He hit Tyler Johnston with a pitch with two outs in the fifth and allowed a one-out single to Mickey Moniak two innings later — two of the three batters to reach base against him on the night. Of the 24 outs he recorded, a season-high 10 were punch outs, the fourth double-digit strikeout game of his career.

The right-hander was at 89 pitches through seven before heading back out for the eighth. His velocity was down significantly after a prolonged bottom of the seventh, but Skenes worked around a one-out double from Johnson to get through eight innings on 98 pitches.

“My first pitch was 93 [mph] and I was like, ‘Probably shouldn’t have come back out,'” Skenes joked. “I told that to [manager Don Kelly ] after but, just a long inning before and sometimes it takes a bit to get going, especially late in the game. Glad we got through the eighth and it was a good game all around.”

In seven of the eight starts since he took the mound on Opening Day, Skenes has allowed one or zero runs, including back-to-back performances of eight-shutout innings in his two most recent.

He is one of four Major League pitchers in the Modern Era (since 1901) to pitch eight-scoreless innings while allowing two or fewer hits and issuing zero walks in back-to-back starts, joining Boston (AL)’s Cy Young (1905), Chicago (AL)’s Billy Pierce (1958) and San Diego ’s Mat Latos (2010).

In three of his last four starts, he’s retired at least the first 14 batters he faced. He retired 20 in a row to start his outing against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field on April 24. He retired the first 14 batters he faced last week against the Diamondbacks in Arizona , and he sat down the first 14 he faced on Tuesday night — the first six of which came via strikeout.

“I said to [pitching coach Bill Murphy] during the game, back in 2011 with [ Justin Verlander ], every time he took the mound, you were shocked when he gave up a hit,” Kelly said of his former teammate with the Detroit Tigers . “Paul is on that type of run right now.”

The question of when he’s get his ERA this season back below 2.00 — if at all — was answered without hardly breaking a sweat. Dominant stretches like the one he’s in right now will do that.

Now the bigger questions prevail, specifically if he can win back-to-back National League Cy Young awards. Or if he’ll eventually throw a no-hitter, or even a perfect game, with the possibility of either happening somehow becoming a fairly-regular occurrence.

As he’s done throughout his career, Skenes will take it one start at a time.

“Every five days it’s a brand new thing. At the end of the day, why does one start build off another? It’s because you’re executing well and there are certainly times in the season when you’re executing pitches better than others,” he explained. “But in terms of mentality and how you’re going into each start, that’s not the way to do it. Every start is new and you can get humbled real quick.”

Skenes has been dominant for most of his career, but lately he’s elevated his game even further. If he keeps pitching like this, those questions will eventually shift from ‘if’ to ‘when.’

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