Concerning Paul Skenes Trend Continues, But Stats Look Better As Pirates Rout Braves

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Paul Skenes' velocity continues to trend in a less-than-perfect direction.

But on Tuesday night in the Pittsburgh Pirates' win over the Atlanta Braves, Skenes' stats looked much more like his usual self.

Skenes went six innings and allowed just two runs. Mostly, he looked like Paul Skenes:

Paul Skenes tonight:

6.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO
95 pitches, 66 strikes, 12 whiffs

THAT'S MY ACE. pic.twitter.com/6qeZBdRrej

— Platinum Key (@PlatinumKey13) July 8, 2026

MORE: Ryan O'Hearn makes Pirates history with epic slugging night

His fastball velocity doesn't compare favorably to this time last year, though.

It declined inning-by-inning on Tuesday, which isn't unusual, but also isn't great considering the current trend:

Paul Skenes Fastball Velocity by Inning Tonight:

1st: 97.2
2nd: 97.1
3rd: 96.9
4th: 96.2
5th: 95.8

Last year on July 11th, he averaged 99.0 in the 1st and 98.3 in the 5th

— Expected Chop (@ExpectedChop) July 8, 2026

Considering that Skenes entered the night with a 5.12 ERA in his last six starts, this was an encouraging outing.

The Pirates will want to keep seeing more performances like this from their ace to feel good going forward.

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