To the St. Louis Cardinals fan wearing Cardinal-colored glasses, all of the buzz surrounding Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes may seem more hysterical than historical.
On April 8, the Cardinals scored 5 runs on 6 hits and a walk during Skenes’ 6.0 innings of work en route to a 5-3 win. St. Louis improved to 3-0 in four games started by Skenes.
But to be fair, the Cardinals are definitely the outlier in Skenes’ brief-yet-impressive career. And full disclosure, in the 20.2 innings Skenes pitched over the three games against St. Louis in 2024, he went 0-2 despite allowing just three runs on 13 hits with 23 strikeouts.
In fact, it’s not hard to fathom that, had Pittsburgh provided him with any semblance of consistent offensive production over his first 27 MLB starts, Skenes – the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft, who will turn 23 in late May – could be 27-0.
As is, Skenes is 13-4 in what has been among the better beginnings to a career in MLB history. In fact, his ERA of 2.12 is the lowest ever for any pitcher in the live-ball era after 27 starts.
The crazier part of this story is that the Cardinals were able to plate 5 runs off of Skenes. Consider that last year, Skenes, who debuted on May 11, allowed a total of 6 runs through four games in that first month, matched that miniscule amount over five starts in June, then gave up just 5 earned, 6 total, in four July outings.
But he saved the best for last.
After getting “roughed up” for 11 runs, 10 earned, over five August starts, Skenes pitched five games in September, totaling 24.0 innings, and he allowed just 2 runs on 16 hits, with 34 strikeouts. Skenes finished his first season 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA and 170 strikeouts in 133.0 innings, and he was named the NL Rookie of the Year for 2024.
Skenes was also one of three players to adorn the cover of MLB The Show 2025 video game, along with Baltimore’s Gunnar Henderson and Cincinnati’s Elly De La Cruz. Skenes has also gotten his share of attention from the pop culture press, as photos and news of his relationship with girlfriend Livvy Dunne continually fill the entertainment sections of the paper.
Pittsburgh Pirates Struggle Offensively
Unfortunately for Skenes, the talent level throughout the rest of the roster is lacking for Pittsburgh, who enters Friday action 8-12 and last in the NL Central. The Pirates offense has been particularly bad, ranking 29th in the league with a .197 average.
However, the Pirates do head into their three-game homestand against Cleveland on a bit of a roll, after taking three of four from Washington. In the final game on Thursday, Andrew Heaney pitched 7.1 innings, giving up no runs on 5 hits, and Oneil Cruz hit a leadoff home run to provide the only offense in a 1-0 Pittsburgh win.
Bats Remain Quiet for Cincinnati Reds
Like Pittsburgh, the Cincinnati Reds have been hampered by an ineffective offense. The Reds, 9-10 and tied with the Cardinals for third place, are batting just .213, 27th overall in the league heading into a six-game road trip through Baltimore and Miami.
Coming off a weekend sweep of the Pirates, Cincinnati made it four straight, opening a three-game set at home Tuesday against Seattle with an 8-4 win on Jackie Robinson Day. Gavin Lux went 4-for-4 to lead the team. However, the Mariners won the next two, including an 11-7 win on Thursday despite four RBIs from Jake Fraley and another multi-hit game by Lux, who has gone 8-for-14 over his last four games, 11–for-26 in the past eight, raising his average from .194 to .290.
Milwaukee Brewers Emerge From Rough March
After a 0-4 start, the Milwaukee Brewers were happy to flip the page on the calendar. The Brewers improved to 10-9 after winning the past two games over Detroit, giving them four series wins in the five so far this month, as they prepare to host the Athletics.
On Tuesday, recently-acquired pitcher Quinn Priester made his second start and earned his first win for Milwaukee, giving up no runs and just 1 hit in 5.0 innings of the 5-0 win; Rhys Hoskins went 3-for-4, with a home run and 2 RBIs. Jose Quintana was effective off the mound as well in the next start, allowing 1 run on 4 hits through 5.2 innings, as the Brewers won 5-1 on Wednesday. Hoskins again spurred the offense, hitting his second homer as part of a 2-for-3 effort, and Sal Frelick went 2-for-4, raising his team-high average to .318.
Chicago Cubs Drop Two of Three in San Diego
After winning a pair of weekend games in Los Angeles – including a 16-0 beatdown on Saturday that was the worst shutout loss in Dodgers history – the Chicago Cubs dropped two of three at San Diego. Still first in the division at 12-9, Chicago will host Arizona this weekend to open up an eight-game homestand.
Shota Imanaga helped salvage the second game of the series against the Padres, giving up just 4 hits and an unearned run with 7 strikeouts in 5.0 innings. The bullpen, which had imploded one day earlier in a 10-4 loss, combined for 5.0 innings of scoreless, 1-hit ball, as Chicago escaped in 10 innings with a 2-1 win.
Pete Crow-Armstrong, the Sherman Oaks, CA, native, enjoyed his time on the West Coast. After muscling up for the ESPN audience on Sunday Night Baseball with two home runs and triple in Sunday’s win at Los Angeles, Crow-Armstrong had three more hits on Monday and went 5-for-11 against the Padres.
The Cubs offense continues to roll, ranking second in MLB at 5.90 runs per game, with Kyle Tucker again leading the way. He is batting .301 and remains among the NL leaders in home runs (5), RBIs (19) and runs scored (19).
Imanaga (2-1, 2.22 ERA) and Matthew Boyd (1-2, 2.01) have been bright spots in the starting rotation, but the Cubs, with the 19th-best ERA in the league, are still scrambling to fill the hole left by the season-ending injury to Justin Steele.