CINCINNATI — Paul Skenes certainly hasn’t had time between starts that looks like this. But the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner also isn’t overthinking the process between his first outing of the season and Wednesday’s series finale against the Reds.
True to form, Skenes is remaining calculated, processing everything in a mature way. He took an objective look at his two-thirds of an inning, sought feedback from teammates and now has the chance to put those 37 pitches behind him in the series finale at Great American Ball Park.
“I wasn’t completely unhappy with the outing,” Skenes said. “Just have to go out there and execute [Wednesday].”
In examining his outing against the Mets at Citi Field, Skenes did not see a bunch of poorly executed pitches that wound up over the fence. In fact, there was hardly any hard contact; just one ball had an exit velocity of 95 mph or greater.
Skenes did walk two and hit a batter, but the Mets prolonged the inning due to a pair of fly balls Oneil Cruz should’ve caught in center field. Manager Don Kelly removed Skenes as a precaution because his pitch count got so high.
After exiting the game, Skenes said he talked with the four other Pirates starting pitchers and gathered their feedback, good and bad. They all sort of reached the same conclusion: It’s not time to overreact.
“I’ve had a lot of good coaches, and I have a good environment around me,” Skenes said. “At the end of the day, it’s not glass half-full or glass half-empty. You have to see it for what it is. … We have a lot of people who can help me do that.”
Skenes does have something to uphold, however. In game two of the Mets series, Mitch Keller delivered six scoreless frames. Carmen Mlodzinski followed with 4 1/3 innings of two-run ball on Sunday punctuated by a career-high eight strikeouts. In the opener of the Reds series, Braxton Ashcraft established career highs with six innings and 87 pitches, striking out three.
They were all strong starts.
Now, it’s Skenes’ turn.
“Just have to keep the line moving,” Skenes said.
The days between starts did feel longer, Skenes admitted. But the reason was more it being the beginning of the season and “getting into the swing of things” than any reaction to his first start.
Skenes simply isn’t wired to freak out over something so small.
“That’s just how you have to look at it,” Skenes said. “Positive or negative, take it for what it is. Go out there and execute in the next one.”
Jason Mackey: Jason.Mackey@pirates.com and @JMackey_PGH on X.