Paul Skenes Gives Brutally Honest Truth About Pirates Season

The Pirates entered the 2026 season with the belief that they could make the playoffs, so falling short of the postseason picture will be considered a disappointment by many.

Among those who are disappointed is Paul Skenes , who closed his season with a 3.82 ERA in 32 games. It was a significant step back for Skenes, as he produced stellar ERAs under 2.00 in each of the last two seasons, which is only exacerbated by the team missing the playoffs once again.

Skenes believed the Pirates had a chance to contend for at least a wild card spot in 2026, but the team will instead finish third in the division. While that is the team's best NL Central finish in a decade, Skenes wanted to get his first taste of October baseball this fall.

After his final start of the season, Skenes addressed his feelings regarding missing out on the playoffs in 2026. Here's what he had to say.

Skenes had a solid close to his season on Thursday, allowing just one run in 6.1 innings as the Pirates beat the Cardinals. The win guaranteed the Pirates won't have a losing season this year, but the team had playoff goals that it won't fulfill when the regular season concludes.

After the game, Skenes discussed the Pirates not making the playoffs once again, and the star pitcher expressed that he was over ending the season so soon.

"It's tough. This is my third year and every year at the end it's been like, 'what's it going to look like for next year?'" he said. "I don't love that. I'm kind of tired of it."

However, Skenes did say he likes where the team is at moving forward and believes that the right moves in the offseason can help take the Pirates to the next level.

"We are in a good position for next year, I know that," he said. "But it's going to be tough to think like that again for the whole offseason...I don't think there's anything that needs to be completely overhauled."

By reaching the 80-win mark, the Pirates secured their best season since 2018, when they went 82-79. If Pittsburgh can get to 83 wins this weekend against the Tigers, it would be their most successful season since they last made the playoffs in 2015.

Still, the incremental improvements weren't enough to reach the postseason, and with three years left on Skenes' contract, the clock is ticking for Pittsburgh to return to the playoffs.