Paul Skenes struggles with rising ERA and dropping fastball velocity

The Pittsburgh Pirates’ top pitcher, Paul Skenes, was charged with five runs on seven hits in a Friday night defeat to the Cincinnati Reds, his second straight start to do so. This performance capped a difficult month in which he has yielded at least five runs in three of his five appearances, pushing his earned-run average to 3.90, notably higher than his 2024 and 2025 marks. Although he enjoyed a three-game stretch of 3-0 wins and only five earned runs in the middle of the month, recent statistics reveal a concerning drop in fastball speed, with none of his last four outings topping 98 mph and only 95 instances of that velocity all season.

By contrast, he recorded nearly 900 such pitches last year and about 700 the year before. Skenes said the reduced speed is by design and not a worry, yet the numbers have alarmed fans and the Pirates’ analytics staff. Dan Zangrilli, the team’s pre- and post-game host, bluntly criticized the ace, describing his appearance as “out of shape, lumbering yeti sucking wind on a hot day.”