Is it time to panic about Paul Skenes?
Yahoo Sports senior MLB analysts Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman look at Skenes' last start and dive into what the ugly numbers and dipping velocity mean longterm. Check out the full conversation on the "Baseball Bar-B-Cast" podcast - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , YouTube or wherever you listen.
Video Transcript
We did a Paul Skenes panic meter check-in a couple months ago maybe, and since then things have only gotten worse.
The defending National League Cy Young, if you look at the line, only was okay last night in Miami, Florida.
Five innings, one earned run, five hits, just one walk.
But if you watched the game, you would know that Paul Skenes did not look very good.
There was a lot of hard contact.
He lasted only five innings and 65 pitches, and most concerningly, the velocity on the heater was down.
Just the fact that he was taken out of the game after 65 pitches in a close contest, a must-win game that the Pirates did not, is enough to make us worry again.
The Pirates are spiraling out of control.
They are currently five back of the NL wild card and six games under .500.
Excuse me, I did that wrong.
They are six back and five under.
Would you rather be six back and five under, or five back and six under?
Either way, things are not going well.
Yeah, and I think that, like, there's a Pirates conversation that we sort of started to have on Monday.
But I think that Skenes, because of who he is and, and what he has done to start his career, every outing is, you know, not to the same degree that it was as a rookie or even last year.
But I still consider Skenes' outings as events in a way that very few other pitchers have, gained that status.
I am curious what happens every time he goes out there.
That comes with a lot of scrutiny.
That comes with a hyper-fixation on where the fastball is at.
And we've seen the velo This has been a trend the whole season, where it's like, wait, we're, we thought this guy threw 100 miles an hour, and he just doesn't do that anymore.
There have been starts where it has been much lower.
But his start against Milwaukee last week, he was up to 99.
It's not And, and that was actually, I remember watching that, and that was a worse outing in terms of the line, against Milwaukee, where he allowed three runs, innings, but he walked four.
The stuff looked a little more crisp.
Last night, I think he topped out at 96 and a half.
I'm not sure if he touched 97.
Definitely was not throwing 98.
Definitely the lowest we've seen the velocity.
More concerning was just that he wasn't getting any whiffs on really anything.
His command was bad, and he allowed a home run to Estury Ruiz, who I should say, having one heck of a little season.
So credit to Estury Ruiz.
If you haven't seen the numbers he's been putting up with his, the ultimate change of scenery candidate.
What is this, his fourth or fifth organization?
He's having a nice year.
That said, giving up absolute rockets to Ruiz, and then the last- Yeah pitch of his outing also almost went over the fence.
Brian Reynolds', robs a home run.
I think coming off the off day with a rested bullpen, the way that Don Kelly described it after the game is, "We take him out because that gave us the best chance to win."
Paul Skenes asked about it, said, "Yeah, I probably would've done that, too," essentially admitting he wasn't particularly sharp at the end of that outing.
He trusted his bullpen.
The bigger problem in this game, of course, is that the Pirates' offense scored zero runs.
But Skenes is the focus, and the Pirates' pitching staff as a whole being disappointing while the offense has taken a step forward.
Skenes is the face of this team, and we said it yesterday.
I don't know if we said it or on the pod, but, like, last night felt really, really important for him, for him individually, for the Pirates as a team.
Facing another team just really right in the same range in the standings, unless they flip behind, slip behind Miami, and instead they, the offense lays an egg.
Skenes does not look good.
And, I, I'm, I mean, how much are we panicking?
That's what we're calling the segment.
I'm not sure, but I'm not feeling great.
