Pittsburgh Pirates fans could be forgiven for feeling some apprehension in the aftermath of Paul Skenes’ abbreviated outing Wednesday in Milwaukee.
Before his start got derailed as a result of four second-inning runs allowed to the Brewers, SportsNet Pittsburgh broadcaster Greg Brown speculated on air that the Pirates might keep their phenom pitcher on a short leash for workload-related monitoring.
Skenes ultimately departed after a season-low four innings, throwing only 78 pitches.
After the Pirates’ 4-2 loss, manager Don Kelly confirmed that the 23-year-old’s yearlong workload indeed played a role in the planned decision to go to the bullpen so early, with Mike Burrows taking over in the fifth.
“We’re just trying to monitor Paul,” Kelly said postgame. “He’s our workhorse and has pitched a lot. We had Burrows available out of the (bullpen), so just kind of monitoring it and seeing how the game was going to go along.
“We’re always watching, not just Paul, but all the guys. But especially Paul, he’s up over 100 (innings pitched) now. Just really want to be mindful of where he’s at. There’s going to be days where he can run for a long time, and there’s other times that we’ve got to just take care of him, too, as far as him being our workhorse and understanding where he’s at.”
Skenes’ start Wednesday was his 17th of the season and puts him at 106 innings thrown in 2025.
Last year, after making his big-league debut May 11, 2024, Skenes went on to make 23 starts for the Pirates, pitching 133 innings.
In addition, he pitched 27 1/3 innings in the minor leagues with Triple-A Indianapolis prior to his MLB debut.
For his part, Skenes referenced a string of long outings recently, as since May 18, he’s pitched eight innings twice and 7 2/3 innings once, along with a further three appearances of at least six frames.
Skenes has no qualms about easing up slightly on the workload front, especially since at his rate of pitches thrown Wednesday, his ceiling probably would have been in the six-inning range.
In other words, shaving one to two innings off his growing season-long total was not problematic in his eyes.
“Obviously, (Wednesday) was a little lower volume,” Skenes said. “I think we’re probably going to mix those in occasionally throughout the year. But you look at the stretch we just went on, where a lot of (starts) were on five days’ (rest), going seven-eight innings pretty consistently — I’ve been happy with it.”
While Skenes can certainly be expected to have some input regarding his overall workload, those decisions are made above his head.
It’s hard to not to conclude a pair of recent injury-related experiences with other pitchers aren’t at least somewhat weighing on the club’s brass, particularly general manager Ben Cherington.
For one, there was Jared Jones, whose 2025 campaign ended before it ever got underway due to a right elbow UCL sprain that required surgery.
Jones’ absence from the starting rotation is an ongoing blow for the struggling Pirates.
Also pertinent to Skenes is the situation of fellow right-hander Johan Oviedo, who joined the Pirates in 2022 from St. Louis in the Jose Quintana trade with the Cardinals.
That season, split between the Cardinals and Pirates, Oviedo pitched a total of 56 innings.
His career high in volume came in 2021 with St. Louis, when he was on the hill for 62 1/3 innings.
But in 2023, his first full campaign with the Pirates, Oviedo pitched the entire season, tossing 177 2/3 innings over 32 starts.
Oviedo looked likely to be a key member of the Pirates’ rotation in 2024 when that February, he was sidelined, requiring Tommy John surgery.
Oviedo has yet to return to action.
Losing Skenes for an extended period of time in any fashion would be catastrophic for the Pirates, so management has plenty of reasons to be diligent in monitoring his workload.
That said, Skenes being pulled prematurely in one start doesn’t need to be viewed as potentially turning into a regularity.
Wednesday’s script may well play out again before the season is over, but Skenes still figures to be a workhorse in the Pirates rotation for the rest of the year.
“My body’s in a good spot,” Skenes said. “I think that tells me that what we did in the offseason, throughout spring training and up to this point in the season has been the right thing. I’m very pleased with where my body’s at. At the end of the day, the focus is going to be to stay on the field. As long as I’m on the field, and the rest of our staff is on the field, it’s going to take care of itself, because we’re pretty good.”