Paul Skenes

Paul Skenes

23-Year-Old PitcherSP
Pittsburgh Pirates
2025 Fantasy Outlook
Expectations were sky high for Skenes when he was called up by the Pirates for his big-league debut in May, and yet he exceeded expectations as a rookie, even earning the start for the National League in the All-Star Game. The right-hander struck out more than five batters for every one he walked (5.31 K/BB) and finished with a 1.96 ERA over 133 innings spanning 23 starts, the second-lowest ERA for a rookie pitcher since the earned run became an official stat in both leagues in 1913. With a devastating four-seamer that averaged 98.8 mph in 2024, five secondary pitches highlighted by the sinker and breaking ball, plus exceptional command of his repertoire, Skenes is already an ace and arguably the SP1 overall in fantasy baseball heading into 2025. However, the velocity, while great for getting results on the field, could be seen as something as a red flag given many of the game's hardest throwers have gone down in recent years due to elbow trouble. Skenes, who will still be just 22 years old at the start of the upcoming season, has avoided the operating table so far in his young career. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
Rest of Season From Preseason
#13
ADP
Signed a one-year contract with the Pirates in March of 2025.
Fans 10 in no-decision
PPittsburgh Pirates
July 6, 2025
Skenes pitched five scoreless innings, allowing five hits and no walks in a no-decision Sunday at Seattle. He struck out 10.
Analysis
Despite a short 78-pitch outing, the Pittsburgh ace managed to notch his first double-digit strikeout performance of the season. Skenes completely dominated the Mariners lineup to mark his fifth walk-free start of the season while allowing just one extra-base hit -- a Julio Rodriguez double in the third. Skenes now sports a stellar 1.94 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 125:30 K:BB across 116 frames. The 23-year-old was named to his second consecutive All-Star team Sunday and is currently scheduled to make his last appearance before the break at Minnesota next weekend.
Read More News
Pitching Stats
Loading Pitching Stats...
2025 MLB Game Log
2025
2024
2025 MLB Game Log
Calculate Stats Over Time
Just click on any two dates.
Scoring
FanDuel
DraftKings
Yahoo DFS
Sorare
Loading Pitching Game Log...
2024 MLB Game Log
Calculate Stats Over Time
Just click on any two dates.
Scoring
FanDuel
DraftKings
Yahoo DFS
Sorare
Loading Pitching Game Log...
Minor League Game Log
Calculate Stats Over Time
Just click on any two dates.
Loading Minor League Pitching Game Log...
Pitching Appearances Breakdown
Average Pitch Count
96
Last 10 Games
94
Last 5 Games
89
How many pitches does Paul Skenes generally throw?
 
1-10
 
11-20
 
21-30
 
31-40
 
41-50
 
51-60
 
61-70
 
71-80
 
81-90
 
91-100
 
101-110
 
111-120
 
121+
 
1-10
 
11-20
 
21-30
 
31-40
 
41-50
 
51-60
 
61-70
 
71-80
 
81-90
 
91-100
 
101-110
 
111-120
 
121+
 
1-10
 
11-20
 
21-30
 
31-40
 
41-50
 
51-60
 
61-70
 
71-80
 
81-90
 
91-100
 
101-110
 
111-120
 
121+
What part of the game does Paul Skenes generally pitch?
 
 
 
1st
 
 
 
2nd
 
 
 
3rd
 
 
 
4th
 
 
 
5th
 
 
 
6th
 
 
 
7th
 
 
 
8th
 
 
 
9th
 
Extra
 
 
 
1st
 
 
 
2nd
 
 
 
3rd
 
 
 
4th
 
 
 
5th
 
 
 
6th
 
 
 
7th
 
 
 
8th
 
 
 
9th
 
Extra
 
 
 
1st
 
 
 
2nd
 
 
 
3rd
 
 
 
4th
 
 
 
5th
 
 
 
6th
 
 
 
7th
 
 
 
8th
 
 
 
9th
 
Extra
% Games Reaching Innings Threshold
% Games By Number of Innings Pitched
Left/Right Pitching Splits
Since 2023
 
 
-3%
BAA vs RHP
2025
 
 
-21%
BAA vs RHP
2024
 
 
-11%
BAA vs LHP
2023
No Stats
BAA Batters K BB H 2B 3B HR
Since 2023vs Left .195 520 160 41 92 20 2 6
Since 2023vs Right .189 443 135 21 79 16 0 9
2025vs Left .204 257 74 19 48 12 1 2
2025vs Right .161 192 51 11 29 10 0 3
2024vs Left .186 263 86 22 44 8 1 4
2024vs Right .210 251 84 10 50 6 0 6
2023vs Left 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2023vs Right 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
More Splits View More Split Stats
Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2023
 
 
-39%
ERA on Road
2025
 
 
-29%
ERA on Road
2024
 
 
-47%
ERA on Road
2023
No Stats
ERA WHIP IP W L SV K/9 BB/9 HR/9
Since 2023Home 2.43 1.00 122.1 7 5 0 9.6 2.1 0.9
Since 2023Away 1.49 0.88 126.2 8 5 0 11.7 2.3 0.2
2025Home 2.31 0.89 50.2 1 4 0 8.3 2.0 0.9
2025Away 1.65 0.95 65.1 3 3 0 10.7 2.6 0.0
2024Home 2.51 1.07 71.2 6 1 0 10.4 2.3 0.9
2024Away 1.32 0.80 61.1 5 2 0 12.8 2.1 0.4
2023Home 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2023Away 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
More Splits View More Split Stats
Stat Review
How does Paul Skenes compare to other starting pitchers?
This section compares his stats with all starting pitcher seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 120 innings)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 120 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • K/BB
    Strikeout to walk ratio.
  • K/9
    Average strikeouts per nine innings.
  • BB/9
    Average walks per nine innings.
  • HR/9
    Average home runs allowed per nine innings.
  • Fastball
    Average fastball velocity.
  • ERA
    Earned run average. The average earned runs allowed per nine innings.
  • WHIP
    Walks plus hits per inning pitched.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many balls in play against a pitcher go for hits.
  • GB/FB
    Groundball to flyball ratio. The higher the number, the more likely a pitcher is to induce groundballs.
  • Left On Base
    The percentage of base runners that a pitcher strands on base over the course of a season.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Barrels/BBE
    The percentage of batted ball events resulting in a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Spin Rate
    Spin Rate is the rate of spin on a baseball after it is released. It is measured in revolutions per minute (rpm).
  • Balls Hit 95+ MPH
    The percentage of batted balls hit that met or exceeded the 95 MPH threshold.
  • Swinging Strike
    The percentage of pitches that result in a swing and a miss.
K/BB
4.17
 
K/9
9.7
 
BB/9
2.3
 
HR/9
0.4
 
Fastball
98.1 mph
 
ERA
1.94
 
WHIP
0.92
 
BABIP
.263
 
GB/FB
1.61
 
Left On Base
79.0%
 
Exit Velocity
81.8 mph
 
Barrels/BBE
2.6%
 
Spin Rate
2111 rpm
 
Balls Hit 95+ MPH
22.6%
 
Swinging Strike
14.2%
 
Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Pitching Stats
Loading Advanced Pitching Stats...
Defensive Stats
Loading MLB Defensive Stats...
Stats Vs Today's Lineup
Want more matchup stats?
Loading Matchup Stats...
Our full team depth charts are reserved for RotoWire subscribers.
Subscribe Now
Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Paul Skenes See More
Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Paul Skenes See More
2024 Fantasy Outlook
Skenes, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft, is such a good pitching prospect that the most interesting thing to discuss with him is when he will make his big-league debut. He tallied 122.2 innings for LSU and 6.2 innings across stops at rookie ball, Single-A and Double-A last season (129.1 total innings), so there shouldn't be any notable workload restrictions in his age-22 season beyond the normal care teams show their most prized young arms. Additionally, if Skenes were to spend a full year in the majors and win rookie of the year, the Pirates would be rewarded with a Prospect Promotion Incentive draft pick at the end of the first round in 2025. The 6-foot-6 righty boasts two potential 80-grade pitches in his fastball (sits 99-100 mph, touches 103) and mid-80s slider. He has started throwing his upper-80s changeup more, and that looks like a potential third elite offering. The only things that could derail an ascent to ace status in a few years are injuries and/or unforeseen command issues. Skenes is generally seen as the best college pitching prospect since Stephen Strasburg, and Strasburg made 11 starts in the upper-levels of the minors before making his big-league debut. That could be Skenes' path as well, but there are different incentives in place now, so he will be appointment viewing in spring training games for as long as he remains in big-league camp.
More Fantasy News
Runs up pitch count in no-decision
PPittsburgh Pirates
July 2, 2025
Skenes didn't factor into the decision in Tuesday's 1-0 win over the Cardinals, allowing five hits and a walk over five innings. He struck out five.
Analysis
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Loses duel against Misiorowski
PPittsburgh Pirates
June 25, 2025
Skenes (4-7) took the loss Wednesday, giving up four runs on four hits and two walks over four innings as the Pirates were downed 4-2 by the Brewers. He struck out four.
Analysis
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Walks five in no-decision
PPittsburgh Pirates
June 19, 2025
Skenes did not factor into the decision Thursday in the nightcap of Thursday's doubleheader against the Tigers. He allowed two runs on three hits and five walks over six innings. He struck out nine.
Analysis
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Blanks Cubs across five frames
PPittsburgh Pirates
June 13, 2025
Skenes did not factor into Friday's decision against the Cubs, allowing four hits and two walks while striking out five across five scoreless innings.
Analysis
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Stellar again in no-decision
PPittsburgh Pirates
June 8, 2025
Skenes did not factor into the decision Sunday against the Phillies, allowing one unearned run on two hits and one walk over 7.2 innings. He struck out seven.
Analysis
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Latest Fantasy Rumors
Named All-Star once again
PPittsburgh Pirates
July 8, 2025
Skenes has been selected to participate in the 2025 MLB All-Star Game.
Analysis
Skenes has been named to the All-Star Game for a second consecutive season. That's far from surprising, since the Pirates' pitcher has been one of the best in the National League, and arguably in all of baseball, this season. Skenes owns a 1.94 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP across 19 starts and 116.0 innings in 2025, posting even better numbers than the ones he delivered as a rookie in 2024. It's unclear if the rest schedule will allow Skenes to pitch in the All-Star Game, though.
See All MLB Rumors