Impact of World Baseball Classic on Pittsburgh Pirates’ Paul Skenes

The World Baseball Classic lasted for only a couple of weeks but left a significant mark on the season. Pittsburgh Pirates’ star player Paul Skenes has faced a challenging year. His performance metrics have dropped; specifically, his velocity and command have not been consistent with his previous records. After achieving impressive ERAs of 1.97 and 1.96 in the past two seasons, Skenes now finds himself with a 3.91 ERA this year. He attributes part of this change to the World Baseball Classic.

In an interview with the Post-Gazette, Skenes shared, “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.”

The World Baseball Classic took place from March 3 to March 17 this year. According to Skenes, pitchers typically don’t exert max effort at this time of year since they are still ramping up their performance gradually. He explained: “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.” However, during the Classic, he could not progressively increase his velocity as he usually does.

Despite the changes, Skenes managed to pitch well early in the season, even though his fastball didn’t reach the usual 98 mph. During his rookie year in 2024, he averaged a velocity of 98.8 mph; last season it was 98.1 mph, whereas this year’s velocity dropped to 96.8 mph. Skenes shared that he didn’t set a specific target for his pitching speed; he simply aimed to throw harder.

The 2025 NL Cy Young Award winner made several mechanical adjustments to enhance his velocity, but these efforts did not yield immediate results. He stated, “Unfortunately, it’s probably going to take an offseason to get it back. Yeah, it’s just tough.”

While Skenes does not exclusively blame the World Baseball Classic for his struggles, he acknowledged its impact on his performance. Moreover, he believes other pitchers may have been similarly affected.

Skenes noted, “It definitely affected the year. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’m the only one.”

As the Pirates anticipate a strong offseason for their ace, they hope for his return to form in 2027, contributing to a potential postseason push. However, the team remains cautious due to uncertainties surrounding the impending lockout.

Ryan Canfield, a digital production assistant for Fox News Digital, contributed to this report.