Paul Skenes ‘it’s going to be a fun second half’

PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Remember when Paul Skenes couldn’t buy a run of support? In the last two outings, 26 total runs.

“It makes it hard to lose when you score 14 runs,” Skenes said after his second straight win on Sunday. “That’s nice, we should do that a lot.”

If you could have seen the smile that followed that statement.

It was so many runs he was almost complaining about getting 10 runs of support in one inning. The 24-year-old said it was hard to sit during that 36-minute half-inning, his body got a little stiff. He had to do some extra stretching.

Oh, the struggles of pitching with a successful offense.

There was a period last year from April 19 to May 28 where he got 16 runs of support over 7 starts. That’s 2.3 runs per game. In his last two starts, 13 runs per.

What these runs have done for him coming off a couple of tough outings is just go out and be aggressive again. As he said giving up two runs on Sunday.

“We scored four runs and just tried to attack,” Skenes said. “Two runs isn’t going to kill us.”

It would have killed him much of last year, but this offense is different, tied with Washington in leading the majors in runs scored. From dead last in 2025, to first in half of a season.

This support and better roster are allowing Skenes to enjoy it more. Even if his personal stats aren’t what they’ve been, it really doesn’t seem to bother him like you might think. And I’m saying even after the losses, because he believes in this group. A team with some major injuries and a ridiculous number of blown saves has 50 wins and are two games out of a playoff spot.

It’s been so much fun, he almost doesn’t want a mini-vacation.

“We are in a good spot, kind of wish we didn’t have an All-Star Break at this point because we are playing good baseball,” Skenes said. “I’m super-confident in our ability to show up after the break.”

“It’s been fun to be a part of. We’ll keep it rolling. A lot of baseball left to play, it’s been a fun year.”

That’s coming off an unexpected sweep of the team with the best record in baseball. Skenes said they found a way to win a couple of one-run games during a rare doubleheader and then ‘suffocated’ the Brewers on Sunday.

Pirates sweep Brewers with 14-5 win

“It’s special,” Skenes said.

Part of what makes that special for Skenes is the number of different people who have stepped up in games. This team was expected to be about the rotation carrying them, a rotation that mostly has underperformed, has guys like Esmerlyn Valdez with 10 home runs in a month of games. Jake Mangum impacting games hitting .300. They got 9 RBIs on Sunday from the bottom four of the order. Brandon Lowe and Ryan O’Hearn have been stellar.

“It’s been special to watch, special to be a part of,” Skenes said.

“It’s going to be a fun second half.”