PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – The Pirates are averaging 9.5 a game in Paul Skenes starts so far this season. It’s early, but as Skenes looks at it, this is a different team.
Bucs avenging a series-ending loss to Chicago with a 16-5 win over Washington Monday night.
Just as a comparison, in four Skenes starts this year the offense scored 38 runs. In August and September 2025 combined, the Pirates offense scored a total of 36 runs for Skenes’ starts. There were 10 starts over that span and a good explanation why he was 10-10 despite a 1.97 ERA.
“We have a very balanced lineup and everybody puts a good at bat together so it's been fun to watch,” Skenes said. “I still don't feel like we're playing our best baseball yet. And not that it's been bad, but I think there's kind of more in the tank and so it's going to be really fun."
"It's awesome that we can do that,” said Pirates manager Don Kelly. “I know that with Paul and Mitch last year the run support was tough. Proud of our guys sticking with the approach, staying within it and continuing to battle, even through that sixth inning. We got some really good swings off — the Cruz at-bat really stuck out to me early on in how committed we were to the approach.”
“We hit the home runs, and we're going to hit those, but we need to continue to pass the baton and grind out at-bats."
“Yeah, man, that’s exactly what we were doing, just passing it to the next guy and keeping it going,” said Pirates Bryan Reynolds, who drove in four runs. “Can’t draw it up much better.”
Brandon Lowe is one of the new hitters on this team. An All-Star last year, Lowe has 14 RBI for the season, all collected in four games including a Pirates record 10 in the last two games.
“Fun. Electric. Hitting’s contagious,” Lowe said. “You see what good teams can do out there.”
“That’s the best way to describe it. Hitting’s contagious. When multiple guys are going well, everybody is itching to get up there and ready to go. That’s kind of a tip to all the guys in here. Everybody has put their work in during the offseason. Now they’re starting to see the rewards of everybody’s hard work, and they start to understand what they have in this clubhouse.”
The talk is big, but so have the results. The Bucs are 10-6 and in first place. Pirates got their 10th win 10 days earlier this season than 2025. What we have seen, albeit early, when they’ve had a tough loss, they bounce right back. They did so with a statement win, the most runs in a win in three years.
“(Monday) was a tough loss,” said Pirates manager Don Kelly. “They're pulling with each other, pulling for each other and continuing to battle. It's really cool to see when you're able to stay in that approach of passing the baton, continuing to grind out at-bats. Really big bounce-back win."
“When you look at it, losing a game, you get walked off in Chicago,” Lowe said. “But I think that’s one of the best things that we have in this clubhouse. We have a lot of guys who can take that step back and understand that we lost yesterday but it was still a positive. We won the series. Don’t let it drag you. I bet you nobody even thought about that game. Show up, take care of business. You see what happens when you go out there and have good at-bats.”
"We're a tough group,” Skenes said. “Gritty. Play the game the right way. Go about everything the right way. That stuff adds on, kind of stacking on top of each other and over the course of 162 games it's going to be, you keep stacking like that who knows where we're going to go?”
“I've seen it now for a couple years with the Brewers, the Cubs, the Reds last year made the playoffs. that's what NL Central teams do really well and so now we're doing that. It's really fun to watch."
‘It's going to be really fun’-LISTEN to more of Paul Skenes
‘It's going to be really fun’-LISTEN to more of Paul Skenes
