Paul Skenes' greatest weapon may be what he brings out in his Pirates teammates

Thus far in Paul Skenes’ Major League career, his highlight starts have largely been on the road.

• Pulled with a no-hitter going and 11 strikeouts after six innings at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

• Posting nine strikeouts in six innings of three-hit ball at Detroit.

• Leaving to a standing ovation in St. Louis after eight Ks in 6⅓ innings of shutout pitching.

Meanwhile, Skenes’ home outings have been effective and usually en route to wins, but maybe without the eye-catching sparkle we’ve seen on the road. At PNC Park, Skenes has impressed with his pitch mix, his poise and his ability to come up with big outs at the right time to get out of any trouble spots.

Monday night’s 4-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds may have been his best effort to date on the North Shore, both in terms of polish and power.

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— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) June 18, 2024

Skenes used a five-pitch mix en route to seven strikeouts over six innings, allowing just one walk and one run while scattering six hits. He raised his record to 4-0 and dipped his ERA to 2.29.

“I think so,” Skenes said when asked if this was his best home performance to date. “I feel like we got just about every hitter to two strikes. Then it was just picking the right pitch to get them out. They were on just enough pitches to foul them off or get hits. But I was really pleased with it.”

Manager Derek Shelton concurred.

“It’s gotta be up there,” Shelton said after the game. “He threw the ball really well. And he controlled damage. So I would say, yeah, it probably is (his best home start).”

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What has made Skenes’ past two outings — Monday night’s win over the Reds and the previous start in St. Louis — particularly impressive has been his craftsman-like approach to the games. He is not just relying on his trademark “splinker” and his 100-mile-per-hour fastball to blow away opposing hitters. Versus the Cardinals, it was the curveball that was featured. Against the Reds on Monday, Skenes went to his changeup quite a bit after he felt Cincy’s hitters honing in on his fastball early in the game.

“It was open today. It hasn’t necessarily been open in previous games,” Skenes said of his changeup. “It’s a fifth pitch that people don’t necessarily know about. That’s how the curveball was last week. That’s how the changeup was today. I’ve got weapons.”

The most nuclear of which is still his fastball, which he threw for his 96th and final pitch. At 99.9 mph to close out his sixth (and last) inning of the game, Skenes induced a weak tapper back toward the mound from Tyler Stephenson. Shelton was impressed with how Skenes dialed up that pitch after relying on a change-of-speed approach for most of the night.

“There’s not a lot of guys that can go back to the fastball at 100,” Shelton said.

The most consistent thread throughout Skenes’ outings — home or away — is that the Pirates tend to win when he pitches. There have been some bullpen misadventures along the way (like in his first two appearances against the Cubs and San Francisco Giants), but six out of seven times in 2024 when Skenes has pitched, the Pirates have won.

Regardless of how the bullpen has been while cleaning up the last three innings of Skenes’ outings, he has usually given them six solid frames before getting pulled. Plus, for whatever reasons, the often anemic lineup usually hits when Skenes is out there.

After Skenes allowed a run in the first to the Reds, the Pirates responded with three runs right away in the bottom of the first and one more in the second. Then Skenes and the bullpen took care of the rest.

Prior to winning the 2-1 pitchers’ duel with Miles Mikolas in St. Louis last week, the Pirates had plated 45 runs in Skenes’ first five starts.

“Sometimes there are those guys (who get run support),” first baseman Rowdy Tellez said after two hits Monday. “And then there are, unfortunately, those guys who pitch their butts off, and you don’t give them run support. If you keep us in the game, we are able to do stuff. It looks like all we need to do is score two runs for Paul. It kind of looks like that every day. That’s an aspect, too, when you know someone like that is going to be running on the mound.”

Rowdy Tellez’ comeback needs to be studied. #LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/4KGJOVqvKa

— SkenesMuse (@PaulSkenesMuse) June 17, 2024

With all the other “weapons” Skenes has at his disposal, mixing in the cache of some offense makes Skenes even more threatening.

Wherever he is pitching.