Paul Skenes has lost seven straight starts as his fastball velocity slides to 97 mph

The Pittsburgh Pirates have lost seven straight games in which Paul Skenes has taken the mound, per Yahoo Sports, with the most recent defeat coming Saturday against the Colorado Rockies in Denver. The losing streak has arrived alongside a measurable dip in Skenes's fastball velocity, and it has generated a genuine debate about whether the third-year ace is in decline — or simply becoming a different kind of pitcher.

What happened

Per Yahoo Sports, Pittsburgh dropped its seventh consecutive game with Skenes on the mound after Saturday's contest at Coors Field. The streak has drawn pointed criticism toward Skenes, with observers citing his velocity as a primary exhibit. His four-seamer averaged 98.8 mph during his rookie season, slipped to 98.2 mph last season, and is now sitting at 97 mph this year — a cumulative drop of roughly 1.8 mph from his debut campaign to the present, per Yahoo Sports.

Skenes himself, per Yahoo Sports, has pushed back on the framing. He indicated that he does not view himself as the same pitcher he was in his first two big-league seasons, suggesting he sees his current approach as an evolution rather than a regression. Yahoo Sports notes that Skenes believes he is pitching better overall than in previous seasons, even as the velocity readings trend downward and the win column has gone quiet.

Why it matters

Seven consecutive losses in a pitcher's starts is the kind of number that tends to generate more heat than light, and it is worth being precise about what the streak does and does not tell us. Per Yahoo Sports, the criticism has centered on Skenes specifically — his velocity, his trajectory, whether a third big-league season is revealing something new about his ceiling. What the report does not establish is how much of the run-support environment, the bullpen, or the opponent slate has contributed to the outcome column. The losses are real; the cause is, per Yahoo Sports, still being debated.

The velocity question is the more tractable one. A decline from 98.8 mph to 97 mph over three seasons is a documented trend, not a rumor. Whether that represents wear, intentional pitch-mix adjustment, or something else is not addressed in the report. Skenes's own framing — that he is not the same pitcher he was as a rookie — leaves the door open to multiple interpretations, and Yahoo Sports does not close it.

For a franchise that has built its near-term identity around Skenes as a cornerstone, a seven-start losing streak attached to its ace is operationally significant regardless of the underlying cause. The Pirates are not in a position where they can absorb prolonged uncertainty about their best arm without consequence.

The numbers

The velocity figures from Yahoo Sports are worth holding alongside each other in sequence: 98.8 mph as a rookie, 98.2 mph last season, 97 mph this season. Each individual drop is modest on its own. Across three seasons, the cumulative slide is 1.8 mph — enough to be meaningful in a sport where fractions of a mile per hour carry real consequence at the top of a rotation.

At 97 mph, Skenes is still throwing harder than most pitchers in the league, which is part of why his own assessment — that he is pitching better overall — is not easily dismissed. The numbers point in two directions at once, and Yahoo Sports does not resolve the tension between them. A slower fastball attached to a longer losing streak makes for a tidy narrative; whether that narrative is accurate is a different question entirely.

Where the club stands

Pittsburgh enters the week at 82-80 (.506), sitting third in the NL Central, 21 games back in the division. The club's Wild Card rank is 5, with a position of 6.0 relative to the cut line. Both the division race and the Wild Card race are listed as eliminated in the verified standings — which gives the remaining schedule a different texture than it would carry for a contender. Games still matter for development, for roster evaluation, and for the kind of organizational clarity that informs offseason decisions, but the urgency of October positioning has been removed from the equation.

Pittsburgh did carry a one-game winning streak into the week, which means the Pirates won a game this weekend — just not one that Skenes started. The upcoming home series against the Seattle Mariners at PNC Park runs Tuesday through Thursday. Tuesday's probable matchup is Mitch Keller against George Kirby. Wednesday is projected to feature Braxton Ashcraft against Bryan Woo. Thursday has Bubba Chandler lined up against Bryce Miller.

Is Skenes scheduled to pitch in the Mariners series?

He does not appear among the listed probables for Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday's games against Seattle. His next projected outing is not identified in the available material, so the precise timing of his next appearance on the mound remains unconfirmed.

What we don't know yet

Yahoo Sports does not specify what, if anything, the Pirates organization has said about the velocity decline or the losing streak in any formal capacity. There is no timetable mentioned, no medical context offered, and no indication of whether the club intends to adjust Skenes's workload, role, or preparation. The belief that he is pitching better overall is attributed to Skenes himself — it is his assessment, not the club's, and not an independent analytical conclusion.

It is also worth noting that seven losses in seven starts is a fact about outcomes. What is driving it — and whether the velocity trend is cause, symptom, or coincidence — remains an open question that the available reporting does not resolve. The report raises the debate; it does not settle it.

What to watch

Beyond the schedule, the velocity number is the thread worth pulling. The direction of the trend, and whether it stabilizes or continues, will shape how the conversation around Skenes evolves over the second half of the season. His own framing suggests he is aware of the scrutiny and has a considered response to it. Whether the results begin to reflect that confidence is the question the next several outings could begin to answer.

For a club that is eliminated from postseason contention but still playing meaningful developmental baseball, how Skenes finishes the year carries weight that extends well past 2026. The seven-start losing streak is the headline. What comes next is the story.