Pittsburgh Pirates ace starting pitcher Paul Skenes is no stranger to making baseball history.
This time though, Skenes some of the wrong kind of history, after yet another stellar start for the Pirates on Sunday failed to earn him a win. The 2024 National League Rookie of the Year pitched 7 2/3 innings, striking out seven while walking just one batter and allowing one unearned run in the Pirates' 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.
You're probably thinking, the Pirates won, so what's the problem? Well, the problem is that the Pittsburgh lineup managed to scratch just one run across against Phillies lefthander Cristopher Sanchez, meaning that Skenes left the game in the top half of the eighth inning with the game tied; he did not factor into the decision.
On the season, Skenes now has a 1.88 ERA and 92 strikeouts, but an underwhelming 4-6 record to go along with it. There have been 90 instances of a pitcher having a sub-2.10 ERA and 80-plus strikeouts through the first 13 starts of a season in MLB history. Skenes is the only one with a losing record, according to OptaSTATS.
Given the many different metrics available now to evaluate pitchers in the age of analytics, wins and losses don't quite mean as much as they used to. But the fact that Skenes could allow, on average, less than two runs per start and not have a winning record boggles the mind. He has allowed one earned run or fewer in six straight starts. He earned the win in one of those outings and the Pirates are 3-3 in those games.
The Pirates have publicly said they won't trade Skenes, nor do they have plans to. But it's hard not to sometimes wish they would consider it, especially when the Pirates lineup's incompetence consistently lets Skenes down.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Paul Skenes Makes Unwanted MLB History After Another Stellar Start Results in No Decision.