Pittsburgh Pirates Insider Fires Back Against Bold Paul Skenes Idea

The Pittsburgh Pirates showed flashes early on during the 2026 MLB season of being a potential playoff caliber team. Unfortunately, those flashes fell apart later in the year.

Not only have the Pirates stopped winning consistently, they have also seen star pitcher Paul Skenes begin to struggle.

Skenes, who has been one of baseball's best starting pitchers since coming to the majors, has struggled mightily this season. His struggles have started causing major concern within the fan base and media. Plenty of ideas have been suggested to help him turn things around.

One of those ideas is to shut him down for the rest of the 2026 MLB season.

While the idea of shutting Skenes down could make some sense, one Pittsburgh insider has spoken out against the idea. John Perrotto of PGH Baseball Now doesn't think sitting Skenes out would be the fix.

"One idea that keeps being floated on social media and the talk shows is that the Pirates should shut down Skenes for the remainder of the season. Part of the rationale is that the Pirates are out of contention," Perrotto wrote.

"However, that idea does not make sense. The Pirates weren’t in contention either of the last two years, and Skenes pitched until the end of the season. Skenes has one more to get straightened out and go into the offseason in a good frame. He would gain nothing from watching the rest of the season from the dugout."

Previously, Perrotto has also suggested that Skenes gaining weight could be a cause of his struggles. Andrew Fillipponi took to X to share that previous report.

"Report: A new theory as to why Paul Skenes might be struggling is that some inside baseball believe he's gained too much weight. He's gotten heavier. Per the reporting of Pittsburgh's MLB insider John Perrotto," Fillipponi wrote on X.

Throughout the course of the 2026 MLB season thus far, the 24-year-old pitcher has made 26 starts. He has compiled a 9-11 record to go along with a 3.95 ERA, a 1.14 WHIP, a 4.2 K/BB ratio, and 139 innings pitched.

Needless to say, those are not the numbers fans have become used to seeing. Back in 2025, Skenes went 10-10 in 32 starts with a 1.97 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 5.1 K/BB ratio, and 187.2 innings of work completed.

Hopefully, the struggles are just a rough patch for Skenes. He has plenty of time to figure out the issues and get his career back on track. Perrotto doesn't think benching him for the rest of the 2026 campaign would help that cause.