Paul Skenes is pitching like a bona fide ace—but if you blink at his win-loss record, you’d never know it.
As of mid‑July, Skenes stands at 4–6, but that record is wildly misleading. He’s posted a 1.88 ERA, a 0.84 WHIP, struck out 92 batters over 91 innings, and is top‑10 in all three categories league‑wide. This isn’t luck—he’s consistently delivering elite performances.
In his last five starts, he’s surrendered just five earned runs over 34⅓ innings, but gone just 1–2, thanks to spotty run support. In one outing, he went 7⅔ innings, allowed two hits, walked one, struck out seven—and still didn’t get the win. That’s not performance—it’s baseball injustice.
Pittsburgh’s offense has been silent in 11 of his 14 starts, scoring fewer than five runs in each. And after another quality effort—this time eight innings with one run allowed and eight strikeouts—Skenes still came away with a loss. He’s become the first pitcher since Pedro Martínez in 2000 to take two losses of 8+ innings, one run or fewer, one walk or fewer, and eight+ Ks in the same season.
This isn’t young hesitation—this is sustained dominance. Skenes is arguably in Cy Young territory, yet his record is stuck at 4–6. That’s not on him—it’s proof that great pitching doesn’t translate to wins when the lineup and bullpen don’t hold up.
He’s the kind of pitcher you build a franchise around. But if the Pirates don’t start backing him—giving him offensive support and bullpen protection—we’re going to see more of this: a top-tier ace overshadowed by team weaknesses. A story all too familiar to baseball fans who some, like me, are starting to see resemblance to Degrom on the Mets.