Skenes Velocity Declining Amid Back-to-Back Rough Starts
Pittsburgh's ace has seen a measurable drop in top-end fastball velocity over his last six outings, fueling questions about his health or mechanics.
Paul Skenes, who won the 2025 NL Cy Young with a 1.97 ERA, has struggled in July 2026 with back-to-back five-run outings. Data from Codify Baseball shows a clear downward trend in his peak pitch velocity across his 23 starts this season. In five of his last six starts, Skenes has failed to reach 98 mph, a threshold he routinely cleared earlier in his career. Skenes attributed his most recent outing to mechanical sloppiness but did not reference any physical issue.
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