Pitcher · 2026
Paul Skenes
- Age
- 24
- B/T
- R/R
- Height
- 6' 6"
- Weight
- 260 lb
- Number
- #30
- Born
- May 29, 2002 in Fullerton, CA, USA
- MLB debut
- May 11, 2024
- Drafted
- 2023, round 1
- College
- Louisiana State
- High school
- El Toro
- dbWAR
- 12.7 3 season(s)
- IP
- 129.2
- ERA
- 3.96
- FIP
- 2.91
- K/9
- 11.2
- FIP−
- 70 100 = avg
Paul Skenes is a starting pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 2026 he struck out 162 batters over 129.2 innings across 24 appearances, 24 of them starts, going 9-10. His ERA of 3.96 was 5.3% lower than the league average of 4.18 — 6th of 14 on his team, and 242nd of 467 among MLB pitchers with 20+ innings. Stripping out defence, his 2.91 FIP suggests he pitched better than his ERA shows. He missed bats on 28.9% of swings (14.8% of every pitch he threw), walked 6.8% of the batters he faced and struck out 30.5%. His 3.1 dbWAR is built from that FIP rather than runs allowed, so it credits him for what he controls and not for the defence behind him.
League context
Percentile among qualified pitchers, 2026.
Platoon splits
How left- and right-handed hitters fare against him.
| Split | PA | AB | H | HR | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vs LHB | 318 | 286 | 62 | 7 | 25 | 92 | .217 | .285 | .371 | .291 | 28.9% |
| vs RHB | 215 | 197 | 47 | 6 | 11 | 70 | .239 | .293 | .376 | .296 | 32.6% |
Pitch sequencing
What Paul Skenes throws in each count, and what he follows each pitch with. Select any cell for the breakdown.
Select a count to see exactly what Paul Skenes throws in it.
Pitch arsenal
What he throws, how hard, and how often it misses in 2026.
| Four-Seam Fastball | 906 | 96.9 | 2,175 | 54.9% | 30.5% | |
| Sweeper | 352 | 84.3 | 2,343 | 51.1% | 30.3% | |
| Changeup | 308 | 88.7 | 1,841 | 38.3% | 38.1% | |
| Splitter | 237 | 93.4 | 1,645 | 44.7% | 18.5% | |
| Sinker | 232 | 96.7 | 2,160 | 47.0% | 9.2% | |
| Slider | 163 | 86.7 | 2,315 | 52.1% | 38.9% | |
| Curveball | 10 | 81.8 | 2,422 | 40.0% | 20.0% |
Pitching
Standard and advanced, by season.
| Trend | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 24 | 24 | 129.2 | 9 | 10 | 0 | 109 | 57 | 162 | 36 | 3.96 | 2.91 | 1.12 | 11.2 | 2.5 | 95 | 70 | 3.1 | |
| 2025 | 32 | 32 | 187.2 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 136 | 41 | 216 | 42 | 1.97 | 2.36 | 0.95 | 10.4 | 2.0 | 47 | 57 | 5.7 | |
| 2024 | 23 | 23 | 133.0 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 94 | 29 | 170 | 32 | 1.96 | 2.44 | 0.95 | 11.5 | 2.2 | 48 | 60 | 3.8 |
Head to head
Put Paul Skenes beside up to three others.
Similar players
Nearest 2026 seasons by command, run prevention and role, on rate statistics rather than totals.
wOBA uses linear weights measured from this season's own play-by-play rather than published constants, and wRC+ is park-adjusted against that same league. dbWAR is our own open implementation — not fWAR or bWAR — and the full derivation, including its simplifications, is on the methodology page.