Paul Skenes heads into Braves start with winless slide nearing historic mark

Paul Skenes’ summer has turned into a study in contrasts for the Pittsburgh Pirates. On the field, the reigning Cy Young winner is in the middle of what described as the worst stretch of his career, winless in nine starts since May 12. Off the field, the same run coincides with Skenes reaching a separate kind of milestone, earning a National League All-Star selection for the third consecutive season, joining the short list of pitchers who have made the Midsummer Classic each of their first three MLB years.

The winless drought is not simply a rough patch on a personal line. According to, Skenes’ nine-start stretch without a win is tied for the second longest by a reigning Cy Young Award winner, and it sits one start behind the mark set by Blake Snell and Jim Perry for the top of the category, as tracked by the Elias Sports Bureau. For Pittsburgh, that context matters because it frames how unusual the performance stretch is for a pitcher who has otherwise been a centerpiece of the rotation.

The timing of the All-Star nod also highlights how tightly his calendar has been packed. reported that despite being selected to the National League roster Saturday, Skenes was not expected to appear in the All-Star Game itself, with his schedule set to include another start Sunday against the Milwaukee Brewers. That means the attention quickly returns from the spectacle back to the grind, and from there to a more pressing matchup on Tuesday.

Skenes’ next meaningful test is a Tuesday start versus the National League East-leading Atlanta Braves. listed the game time as 6:40 p.m. ET and framed it as his next step toward beginning a turnaround after a difficult most recent outing. For a Pirates staff working through the normal pitching-cycle pressures of July, the matchup also comes with a familiar challenge: Atlanta’s profile has consistently emphasized disciplined plate approaches, which can magnify any missing element a starter is still trying to locate.

In his last start, against the Philadelphia Phillies, called it the worst of his career. He surrendered eight runs, seven earned, on two home runs while lasting four innings, striking out five. It is the kind of outing that does not just affect a single number. When a pitcher allows multiple home runs in limited time, the bullpen plan and the confidence level across the rotation can shift, even if the team has other levers to pull.

The same report also described mechanical and performance changes that have stood out over recent starts. noted that Skenes’ fastball topped at 101.9 mph when he was two years earlier as a rookie, but against Philadelphia his four-seam ranged from 93.6 mph to 97.9 mph. It also pointed to a marked reduction in the velocity spike that previously defined much of his outings: reported he averaged 26 pitches per game at 98 mph or higher across his first 55 MLB starts, then thrown a combined total of four such pitches across his last three starts.

Spin rate trends added another layer to the picture. reported his four-seam spin rate has dropped from 2,318 on April 1 to 1,987 on July 1. Combined with the velocity and usage shifts, those figures help explain why the “winless streak” label does not fully capture what hitters might see, and why the next start, even with the All-Star selection on his résumé, is likely to be judged by whether his stuff returns to the effectiveness that made him a Cy Young winner in the first place.

What to watch next is straightforward. Against Atlanta, Skenes needs to turn the underlying elements that have slipped into something closer to his baseline, especially if the pitch mix and the top-end fastball regain stability. The outcome will matter in the standings conversation, but the bigger test may be whether the Braves see the same steep swings-and-miss profile that helped Skenes build his early reputation, or whether this stretch continues to be the new, harder reality of his season.