NORTH PORT, Fla. — Paul Skenes found his first start of spring training — and only one for the Pittsburgh Pirates before joining Team USA in the World Baseball Classic — to be rather challenging.
The National League Cy Young Award winner allowed one earned run on one hit and as many walks (four) as he had strikeouts while throwing 27 of his 53 pitches for strikes over 2 1/3 innings against the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday.
Skenes’ number would have been higher, if not for the Braves using the automated ball-strike system to challenge — and overturn — four calls by home plate umpire Chris Segal.
“I’ve got to be tighter, basically, with everything,” Skenes said, with a shrug. “Obviously, you’ve got to throw the ball in the strike zone to get them out. Challenge system or not, I didn’t do a very good job of that today. But we’ll adjust. Time will tell.”
The challenges inflated Skenes’ pitch count, which led to his exit with one out in the third inning following a Drake Baldwin triple on a misplay by center fielder Oneil Cruz and a three-pitch strikeout of Matt Olson. The Braves battered Jarod Bayless with a Jurickson Profar RBI double and Austin Riley’s two-run home run off the batter’s eye on their way to a 3-1 win before 4,003 at CoolToday Park.
Skenes was pleased with his performance after averaging 97.6 mph on 26 four-seam fastballs, getting 10 swings and two called strikes.
“Pitches, velo, everything is good,” Skenes said. “I’ve just got to throw it in the strike zone. It’s that simple.”
Skenes opened the outing by strikeout out Ronald Acuna Jr. on a changeup and getting Baldwin to ground out to short on a splinker. But a 1-1 curveball that was called a strike drew the first challenge, and the call was overturned as Skenes ended up walking Olson. A first-pitch fastball to Profar also was called a strike, only to be overturned for back-to-back walks. A called third strike on Riley also was overturned by a challenge, though Skenes got him swinging at a 98.5-mph four-seamer.
The Braves won another challenge on Skenes to start the second, when a 1-0 fastball to Acuna was called a ball but overturned before Skenes got him to pop up to first base. Skenes appeared unbothered by the calls, though he understood it could be an issue in the middle of the season.
“Ask me again in June,” Skenes said. “Today, that’s how it is. I’ve just got to adjust. Today, it was a little pitcher friendly. Or the umpire was calling it pitcher friendly. I don’t think we had any called balls — obviously, we didn’t challenge any. I don’t think there were any that would have gotten overturned had we challenged them. I think it will even out over the course of the season but ask me in June.”
Before the game, Pirates manager Don Kelly was more concerned with Skenes showing consistency in his start. In addition to his heater, Skenes got swings on five of his other six offerings. He threw the changeup seven times, the curveball, splinker and sinker five times each, four sweepers and a slider against the Braves.
Skenes leaves Sunday to join Team USA in Arizona for the WBC, and he is expected to leave Pirates camp for two weeks.
“It’s bittersweet,” Skenes said. “I genuinely don’t want to leave. If it were anything other than WBC, I would be dreading leaving. I’m looking forward to it, for sure, but we’re building something here that I think is going to be pretty special. I’m not looking forward to missing two weeks of it in the heart of spring training.”
Pirates manager Don Kelly on Paul Skenes pitching for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. pic.twitter.com/46yAPghLjA
— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) February 25, 2026
The Pirates have a number of players participating in the WBC, including infielders Nick Gonzales (Mexico) and Spencer Horwitz (Israel), relievers Kyle Nicolas (Italy), Dennis Santana and Gregory Soto and center fielder Oneil Cruz (Dominican Republic).
But Skenes is the lone Pirates player who will play for Team USA, which lost to Japan in the 2023 WBC final.
“I’m pumped for Paul to be able to represent the country. It means a lot to him and it’s great for Pirates fans and us to see him doing that,” Kelly said. “He is maybe a little ahead of where he’d typically be, but not terribly much. When you talk about Paul and the prep he has all the time, especially in the offseason preparing for something like this, he takes everything into account, is very in tune with that preparation, his body and what he needs to do to be ready. He’s going to be ready to roll when that first game comes.”
Pirates ace Paul Skenes on wanting to win gold for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. pic.twitter.com/bERx7v6i9b
— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) February 25, 2026
Skenes said he’s scheduled to make one start in WBC exhibition play — against the San Francisco Giants on March 3 or the Colorado Rockies on March 4 — one in pool play March 6-10 and one in the championship rounds March 13-15.
“It’s pretty scripted out. I’ve known for a couple months which games I’m pitching in,” Skenes said. “Winning gold is the biggest thing. Whichever game I’m pitching in, it doesn’t really matter. Just want to win gold.”
Asked if he would be willing to pitch beyond the script, Skenes smiled: “I won’t turn it down.”
In 2014, Skenes played for Team USA’s 12U national team that won silver at the COPABE Pan American Championships in Mazatlan, Mexico. He also played for the collegiate national team in 2021 and ’22 while attending the U.S. Air Force Academy and LSU.
“Looking forward to it,” Skenes said. “We didn’t win gold there when I was in college, so we’ve got to go win gold this time.”
Wearing the nation’s colors is important to him, especially after watching the men’s and women’s hockey teams and “all the other golds that we won” in the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
“We’re America. We’ve got to assert our dominance over everybody else,” Skenes said. “That’s what we do. It’s going to be fun. USA wins. It’s what we do. So got to keep it going.”