Pittsburgh Pirates News

Home

Quizzes

Watch

Newsletter

Aug 24, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes (30) pitches against the Colorado Rockies during the seventh inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Paul Skenes Gets Very Honest About Being on Pirates

Originally posted on Pittsburgh Pirates on SI
By Dominic Campbell | Last updated Nov 19, 2025 2:10 PM ET

PITTSBURGH — Paul Skenes had one of the best seasons in recent history for any pitcher, but the Pittsburgh Pirates continued their struggles on the field.

The Pirates have spent most of the past three-and-a-half decades losing on the field, making for one of the worst franchises in baseball during that time.

Skenes came to the Pirates after an incredible 2023 season with LSU, winning the College World Series, the College World Series MVP and also the the Dick Howser Trophy, given to the best player in college baseball. He also had success in his first two seasons with Air Force, leading them to a Mountain West Championship in 2022 and a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

Skenes joined the Pirates as the first overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft and made his debut on May 11, 2024. The Pirates did have a winning record after the 2024 trade deadline, but an 8-19 record in August ended their chances of a postseason appearance.

Skenes then dealt with another terrible campaign with the Pirates in 2025, which is completely different to what he was previously accustomed to.

Skenes Addresses Struggles with Pirates' Losing

Skenes spoke with Dan Patrick on his show about dealing with the struggles of the Pirates losing and how he's learned about himself during these tough times. He also has faith that the Pirates will get to the point where they are a winning team, which keeps him going every day.

"Yeah it's tough," Skenes said. "It's a huge adjustment because the Air Force is the winningest organization in the world, I go to LSU and win a National Championship. Obviously I haven't had two great years team-wise in Pittsburgh.

"It's been an adjusment. It's tough to not show up to the field bitter and be bitter sometimes, especially when we're on a seven, eight-game skid I think it comes down to just being a professional.

"I've learned more and more on how to do that and be the same person, every day. I'm still learning how to do that. But It is energizing to think about what it could be if and when we do win. So that's the thing that gets me out of bed."

"I was frustrated for a couple of hours and then, kind of, got over it... Obviously it's not true."

– Paul Skenes addresses the rumors of him wanting a trade to the #Yankees. pic.twitter.com/qI3agQyraw
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) November 18, 2025

Pirates' Dismal Recent History

Pittsburgh has had just four winning seasons over the past 33 campaigns and three postseason appearances, which took place from 2013-15.

The Pirates set a North American Professional Sports record for 20 consecutive losing seasons from 1993-2012, where they didn't finish a season with a record of .500 or above.

Pittsburgh hasn't made the postseason since 2015 and had a winning season since 2018, both the second longest streaks for any MLB team, with only the Los Angeles Angels having longer streaks.

How Pirates' Losing Affected Paul Skenes 2025 Season

Skenes had an incredible season for the Pirates, posting a 1.97 ERA over 187.2 innings pitched, 216 strikeouts to 42 walks, a .199 opposing batting average and a 0.95 WHIP, along with a 10.36 K/9, a 2.01 BB/9 and a 5.14 K/BB.

He ranked amongst the best pitchers in the MLB, with the lowest ERA, tied for the fourth-most strikeouts, the fourth-lowest WHIP, the sixth-lowest batting average and the 10th-most innings pitched, plus the fifth best K/BB, seventh best K/9 and ninth best BB/9.

Skenes also ranked highly in the NL, with the lowest WHIP, the fourth-lowest batting average, tied for the second-most strikeouts and the fourth-most innings pitched, as well as the second-best K/BB and both the fifth-best K/9 and BB/9.

He went on and won numerous accolades, like with Baseball Digest naming him their Pitcher of the Year, the MLB Players Association Choice Awards naming him the NL Outstanding Pitcher of the Year and Sporting News naming Skenes to their All-Star team.

Skenes also won the National League Cy Young Award, becoming just the third Pirates pitcher to do so.

He managed to do so while having just a 10-10 record in 32 starts, as he consistently received poor run support throughout.

The Pirates finished 71-91 overall, last in the NL Central Division and with the fifth worst record in baseball.

Pittsburgh also fired manager Derek Shelton after a 12-26 start on May 8, replacing him with bench coach Don Kelly. Kelly got the Pirates to 59-65 overall and to strong performances at home, but they finished well below their original goals.

This article first appeared on Pittsburgh Pirates on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: