Ben Cherington is plenty aware of the Paul Skenes question that has been hanging over the Pirates.
What’s wrong? Is he hurt?
Pittsburgh’s general manager said Sunday on the Pirates Insider Show on 93.7 The Fan the organization has seen nothing to indicate Skenes is injured, though the Pirates do believe he’s dealing with general fatigue.
“No information we have suggests he’s hurt or there’s an injury,” Cherington said. He doesn’t believe that. We don’t see that based on the information we have.
“It’s also true baseball players go through stretches where they’re not hurt or injured but are grinding through some stuff. That’s where we believe this is.”
Cherington actually drew a line back to Skenes pitching in the 2023 College World Series — and winning a national title — with LSU. Since that point, Skenes has pitched a lot and at an incredibly high level.
More than one singular event or cause, Cherington believes this is simply a stretch where Skenes isn’t recovering as quickly and easily as he’d like, and it’s not surprising that he would eventually go through something like this.
“This seems relatively usual for me that, given everything [Skenes] has accomplished, like other elite starting pitchers before him, there are gonna be stretches where he’s just grinding a little bit more,” Cherington said.
“That’s not atypical. Our job is to help him get through this period in a way that’s safe and effective for him. We rely on him a lot to be able to do that, what he’s telling us. We’ll continue to do that. That’ll guide our decisions after Wednesday also.”
Skenes is 9-11 with a 3.88 ERA in 25 starts this season. His four-seam fastball has averaged 96.8 mph, down from 98.2 in 2025 and 98.8 when he was a rookie.
Cherington argued Skenes’ walk and strikeout rates are where they’ve been throughout his career, and he’s not wrong. He’s also been worth 3.7 wins above replacement, per FanGraphs, which obviously isn’t terrible.
At the same time, anybody who has watched Skenes can see his stuff hasn’t had the same life. The Pirates must hope some extra recovery time will do the trick and that this isn’t something bigger than fatigue.
“This has been an excellent year for [Skenes],” Cherington said. “And, like other elite pitchers, there’s gonna be small stretches of time where it just doesn’t feel or come together quite the way it does at other times.
“We’re certainly betting on Paul to work through this period like he does everything else and come out the other side. We’re very lucky he’s a Pirate, that’s for sure.”
When Cruz returns
Oneil Cruz was at PNC Park on Sunday to get re-evaluated. Cherington said the fractures in his left hand are fully healed, though there are some residual effects, primarily present when Cruz makes contact.
They’re meeting to get a deeper assessment and map out where this will go next. That could certainly mean sticking around for the Tigers series this week.
“It’s possible, for any player who had [left hand fourth and fifth metacarpal non-displaced fractures], it might not feel 100% even until the offseason,” Cherington said.
“It’s really a matter of listening to Oneil about where he is. You can imagine, for Oneil specifically, the amount of trauma that he creates with how fast he swings the bat and what happens at contact.
“It’s a matter of, ‘Can he get his swing off while he’s feeling that?’ We’re working through that with him. Still confident we’re going to see him in Major League games here soon. We’ll have a little better idea by the end of the day.”
The Pirates will encounter a good problem when Cruz does return. Jake Mangum has hit .322 with 13 doubles, two triples, four home runs, 22 RBIs, 15 stolen bases and an .811 OPS in his last 63 games — essentially since Cruz went down.
Put simply, he’s been far better filling in for Cruz than when he was used (sparingly) used fourth outfielder. The Pirates need to find a way for Mangum to play.
With Ryan O’Hearn shelved for the foreseeable future and no more Marcell Ozuna, the Pirates have additional flexibility with Esmerlyn Valdez and the designated hitter spot.
Which is probably why Cherington said Mangum won’t be going back to his former role. Expect to see plenty of him in the lineup after Cruz gets back.
“Mangum is still gonna have a really important role on the team,” Cherington said. “Exactly how that is influenced by Cruz coming back, that still remains to be seen. I’d expect when Cruz comes back, you’ll see a lot of both of them.”
The week ahead …
There are two important appointments this week on the injury front involving Konnor Griffin and Endy Rodriguez.
It’ll be six weeks Wednesday for Griffin and his left ringer finger sagittal band injury. That was the stated time for stabilization. Provided the necessary healing has taken place, he should be able to ramp up baseball activities.
Endy Rodriguez will also have a second opinion on the left hip inflammation that landed him on the 10-day injured list last week. The Pirates still hope and believe both will play Major League games in 2026.
Why Yorke?
The Pirates made a relatively surprising roster move Sunday pregame when they recalled Nick Yorke from Triple-A Indianapolis. Turns out it was twofold.
Number one, Nick Gonzales needed an extra day as he recovers from a facial contusion suffered Friday. But the Pirates also wanted additional help hitting left-handed pitching, and Yorke has been productive at Triple-A Indianapolis.
In four games since returning from a fractured right middle finger, Yorke has gone 5 for 16 (.375) with three home runs and a double with five RBIs.
“He’s been swinging the bat well and is in a good spot physically,” Cherington said of Yorke. “We saw an opportunity today to create a matchup with Gonzales getting a day.”
Jason Mackey: Jason.Mackey@pirates.com and @JMackey_PGH on X.