‘It Was a Grind,’ Pirates’ Paul Skenes Reflects on Perplexing Season

PITTSBURGH – Paul Skenes ' perplexing 2026 season came to an end on Thursday afternoon at PNC Park.

Skenes started against the Cardinals in his team's final home game of the 2026 season. The right-hander held St. Louis to one run on three hits with two walks and eight strikeouts in a 2-1 Pirates' win , their 81st of the season.

"He threw the ball great," said manager Don Kelly .

Skenes was at 90 pitches with seven strikeouts through six innings, but he trotted out back to the mound for one more batter in the seventh inning. Skenes struck out Cardinals designated hitter Leo Bernal, which gave him 200 punchouts on the season. He became the third pitcher in Pirates history to have two consecutive seasons with at least 200 strikeouts.

"I was pushing to go back out," Skenes said of chasing his 200th strikeout. "I think if I had gotten a strikeout in the sixth there, I wouldn't have gone back out. But I basically asked for one hitter and [Kelly] gave it to me. I appreciate that."

Skenes entered the season with high expectations after emerging as perhaps the game's top starting pitcher. But the reigning National League Cy Young winner fell short of the heavy standard he set through his first two years with the Pirates. Skenes finished his third big-league big season 10-11 with a 3.82 ERA in 32 starts.

Despite an ERA jump of nearly two full points, Skenes feels like he still had a good – albeit challenging – season.

"It was a grind. It was definitely a grind," Skenes said of his season. "I think it was a good year. I don't think it was to the caliber of the last two years, but I'm not gonna sit around all offseason thinking about how bad this season was, because I just don't think that's true. I understand the standard that was set the last couple of years, but I think there was a lot of good and stuff to get better at. … but the thing that I'm happiest about is the 32 starts."

A disastrous first start of the year on Opening Day in New York was quickly erased by a dominant stretch through the middle of May. Back-to-back eight-inning outings capped off a stretch of nine starts in which Skenes combined for a 1.09 ERA. But beginning with his start against the Phillies on May 17, Skenes combined for a 4.56 ERA over his final 23 outings. The Pirates went 9-14 in those games.

From his time in college at LSU to a brief stint in the minor leagues before his two-year dominance in the big leagues, Skenes had never gone through the adversity that he endured this season. While the results weren't always the same as what they've been, Skenes' consistency remained in his off-the-field work through the challenges.

"We've talked a lot about nobody expects more from Paul Skenes than Paul Skenes expects from himself," Kelly said of his ace. "I know what everybody sees everyday is the same guy. Comes in, [is] focused, works his butt off. And it was tough for him going through that."

Now that his season is over Skenes, will take time to shift his focus towards 2027. Despite taking a step back this season, he still feels like better days are ahead. And given the improvement the Pirates have shown this year, he feels the same way about what lies ahead for his team.

"I think my best baseball is ahead of me and I think our best baseball is ahead of us. Got a long offseason and have the chance to sit down and look at all the stuff. It's really easy to get emotional and kind of let emotions bleed into some stuff during the season. To be able to sit back and kinda look at the big picture rather than the day-to-day, short-term view of it that takes over in-season, that will be good."