Paul Skenes has quietly flipped the script on his season after Opening Day meltdown

Paul Skenes' Opening Day start against the New York Mets was a nightmare — but we all expected Skenes to bounce back, and he's done exactly that. In his last five starts since allowing five earned runs to the Mets in 2/3 of an inning on Opening Day (which gave him a ghastly 67.50 ERA to start the year), Skenes has allowed just three runs over 28 1/3 innings, looking like the ace that he is.

Skenes is also undefeated over these last five starts, with four wins and one no-decision. He's tallied 29 strikeouts to just five walks over the five-game stretch. Even more impressively, Skenes has allowed just 10 total hits during the span, amounting to an average of two hits allowed per start. In his most recent outing, Skenes took a perfect game into the seventh inning against a feisty Milwaukee Brewers lineup.

Pirates ace Paul Skenes looks well on his way to another Cy Young in 2026

Skenes' no-decision mentioned above, by the way, comes with an asterisk. On April 18 against the Tampa Bay Rays, Skenes had pitched four innings of scoreless baseball before a rain delay ended his outing prematurely. The Pirates ended up losing the marathon of a baseball game that lasted 13 innings (on top of the delays). Had the rain never happened, Skenes would have more innings under his belt right now, as well as potentially another win.

In sum, the Cy Young-winning Paul Skenes we've all come to recognize as arguably the best pitcher in the sport? He hasn't gone away. One flukey outing against the Mets (which Oneil Cruz contributed to with multiple outfield errors) doesn't change the fact that Skenes is not only at the top of the MLB starting pitcher food chain, but is only getting better. He's still just 23 years old.

Skenes is now 4-1 with a 2.48 ERA and 0.72 WHIP on the season, and the Mets disaster already feels like a distant memory. Skenes will have a chance to bolster those numbers further when he takes the ball for a seventh time this season on Thursday in St. Louis.

In 55 starts between his rookie and sophomore seasons, Skenes had an ERA under 2.00. He's already headed back to that region since Opening Day, but on the other hand, Skenes' margin for error as a run preventor should be much wider this season than during the last two.

The Pirates finished dead last in runs scored in 2025 and 24th in 2024. But this year's offense is much improved, and the pathetic (lack of) run support Skenes suffered in the past should no longer ail him.

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