Paul Skenes facing unfair reality Pirates won’t fix anytime soon

As Paul Skenes walked off the mound on Opening Day before the first inning was even complete, the reaction inside Citi Field said everything.

Shock. Celebration. Disbelief. Not just because of what had happened — but because of what it meant.

For one of the very few times in his young career, Skenes looked human. And almost instantly, the game was over.

That’s the reality Skenes is being forced to live with in Pittsburgh — and it’s not changing anytime soon.

Yes, he was bad on Opening Day. There’s no need to dress it up. The command wasn’t sharp, the walks piled up, and he couldn’t generate his usual swing-and-miss. By his standards, it was the worst outing of his career.

But Skenes didn’t just have a bad inning. He had a bad inning that his team couldn’t survive.

Elite pitchers across baseball have off days. It happens. But the great teams — the ones built to contend — absorb those moments. They pick their ace up. They limit the damage. They keep the game within reach.

The Pirates don’t do that. In fact, on Opening Day, they actively caused more damage.

Paul Skenes is held to an unfair standard while excuses are made for his Pirates teammates

Skenes operates under a standard that borders on unreasonable. He doesn’t just need to be good. He doesn’t just need to be great. He has to be nearly perfect — because when he isn't, everything unravels.

On Opening Day, it wasn’t just the walks. It was what came after. Balls that should’ve been outs turned into runs. Routine plays became disasters. A line drive misread. A pop-up lost in the sun. Suddenly, a rough inning turned into a collapse.

That’s the unfair part of all this. When Skenes makes a mistake, it multiplies. When others make mistakes, it’s explained away.

We’ve already seen the cycle. Defensive lapses get framed as growing pains. Offensive struggles get labeled small sample size. There’s patience everywhere — except on the mound. Because there can’t be.

Skenes doesn’t have the luxury of development at the big league level. He doesn’t have room for a “learning curve.” Every start carries the weight of needing to stabilize everything around him. Last year, it was a lack of run support. This year, it might be something even more dangerous: a lack of reliability behind him.

The Pirates did make additions this offseason. They did try to improve the roster. But they didn’t fix the foundation.

So when Skenes has a day like Opening Day, there’s no safety net waiting beneath him. Just a long fall — and a familiar outcome.

He’ll bounce back. He always does. The question is whether anything around him will.