Skenes stung by continuing control issues: 'I’m not going to let it continue'

MILWAUKEE -- Paul Skenes found the extra life on his fastball. He generated the swings and misses. For three innings on Wednesday night, he looked every bit like the version of himself the Pirates have been waiting to see again.

Then came the fourth.

Three walks, two hits and 34 pitches later, a promising night had flipped into another early exit for Pittsburgh’s ace. Skenes allowed three runs over five innings in the Pirates’ 4-2 loss to the Brewers at American Family Field, offering flashes of his familiar dominance before the command issues that have followed him of late resurfaced.

“Outside of that fourth inning, it was a pretty dang good outing,” Skenes said. “Probably need to get ahead in counts a little more just overall. You can’t walk guys. Probably just trying to be a little too perfect at times, and then you put yourself in those positions and kind of open yourself up to that.”

Skenes allowed just two hits and struck out six, generating 16 whiffs while averaging 97.1 mph with his four-seam fastball. Manager Don Kelly thought Skenes’ stuff looked better than it had in recent starts.

It just did not remain in the strike zone often enough.

Skenes walked four batters for a second consecutive outing, throwing only 53 of his 93 pitches for strikes. His walk rate has crept upward over his last four starts, another small departure from the precise, overpowering pitcher who posted an ERA below 2.00 in each of his first two Major League seasons.

“I thought his stuff looked better today,” Kelly said. “There seemed to be more life on it. He had more whiffs today. ... I feel like they’re able to foul some of the pitches off, which gets him elevated in the pitch count, too. And leads to him not being able to put guys away.”

The evening began ominously when Skenes walked Brice Turang on four pitches, but he quickly found his footing. Skenes retired the next 10 Brewers in order, striking out five and keeping Milwaukee hitless into the fourth inning.

That was when the smooth cruise turned into bumper-to-bumper traffic.

Skenes issued consecutive one-out walks to Garrett Mitchell and William Contreras, putting runners at the corners. Christian Yelich then lined a 3-1 slider down the right-field line for Milwaukee’s first hit, scoring Mitchell.

Andrew Vaughn followed by shooting a fastball through the right side, driving home two more runs and stretching the Brewers’ lead to 3-0. Neither pitch was left over the heart of the plate, but Skenes’ inability to get ahead had forced him into situations where Milwaukee’s hitters could wait for something they could handle.

Skenes escaped the inning with a double play, but only after throwing 34 pitches. His outing ended after a scoreless fifth.

“It’s certainly frustrating,” Skenes said. “The Pirates need me to go more than five innings, so I’ll figure out a way to make that happen. Just kind of making it hard on myself.”

The abbreviated outing continued an uneven stretch for Skenes, whose ERA rose to 3.96 through 24 starts, including a 6.22 mark since July 1. His velocity and underlying metrics still suggest the dominant pitcher remains nearby, but several minor slippages -- fewer strikes, more walks and longer at-bats -- have prevented him from consistently reaching that level.

Skenes does not expect the trend to linger.

“I don’t think it’s going to continue by any means,” Skenes said. “I’m not going to let it continue. I’ve had stretches like this where I’ve walked more than I would like to, but we’ll continue to dial it in.”

Wednesday also brought a noticeable change behind the plate.

Endy Rodríguez caught Skenes for the first time since April 14, 2025, snapping a streak of 51 consecutive starts in which Henry Davis had handled the Pirates’ ace. That was the longest active pitcher-catcher streak in the Majors entering the night, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

The pairing had been discussed at length before Rodríguez’s injury temporarily delayed the plan. Kelly said before the game that the Pirates wanted to create more flexibility while keeping Rodríguez’s hot bat in the lineup.

Skenes came away pleased with the new partnership.

“I thought he called a good game,” Skenes said. “I’ve just got to execute a little bit better, but didn’t mind him back there by any means.”

Rodríguez felt similarly, joking that catching Skenes is “a dream for every catcher.” He leaned more heavily on Skenes’ slider, which became his second-most-used pitch Wednesday after playing a smaller role for much of the season.

“The game tells you what to do,” Rodríguez said. “Obviously, everybody wants to jump on him, so we have to figure out how to get quick outs.”