Skenes isn't throwing his fastball as hard as he did last year with an average velocity of 98.0 mph (down from 98.8 mph in 2024). His sinker is up nearly three miles per hour compared to last season (96.9 to 94.0).

Skenes insists he's not concerned about that. "Nobody in the big leagues has my stuff," he told Verducci. "We're writing our own book. Because I've tried it the other way. It does

P ittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes has lived up to sky-high expectations since breaking into the bigs last season, putting together a 14-5 record with a miniscule 2.06 ERA and 0.