The World Baseball Classic, though brief, left a lasting impact on many players this season. Pittsburgh Pirates’ pitcher Paul Skenes has experienced a noticeable shift in his performance. His velocity has decreased, and his command has faltered. Previously, he maintained impressive ERAs of 1.97 and 1.96 over the past two seasons. This year, however, his ERA has increased to 3.91.
Skenes attributes part of this change to the timing of the World Baseball Classic. He shared with the Post-Gazette, “There are a lot of other factors, so I don’t want to put everything on that. But I feel like that was kind of the root of it a little bit.”
“Usually, that time of year, you’re kind of ramping up and it’s a little bit slow. You can kind of get onto the slope and find your body,” Skenes explained.
During the Classic, held from March 3 to March 17, pitchers like Skenes typically are not throwing at their peak capabilities. He reflected on the difference this year stating, “One live [batting practice], you’re topping at 97 [mph], and then the next you’re 98, 99. And that wasn’t the case this year.”
Despite starting the season strongly, Skenes struggled to reach his usual fastball speeds. In his rookie season in 2024, he averaged 98.8 mph, and last year, 98.1 mph. Currently, his fastball sits at 96.8 mph.
While Skenes did not have a specific goal for how hard he wanted to pitch, he knew he wanted to throw harder. The 2025 NL Cy Young Award winner attempted mechanical adjustments to regain his velocity, but they were unsuccessful. He acknowledged, “Unfortunately, it’s probably going to take an offseason to get it back.”
“It definitely affected the year,” Skenes remarked, noting that he believed he wasn’t alone in feeling the effects on performance.
The Pirates are counting on a productive offseason for Skenes, anticipating a return to form in 2027 to aid the team’s postseason ambitions, contingent on the resolution of potential lockout issues.