Concerning Paul Skenes trend will make Pirates fans walk the plank

Despite addressing numerous needs at the trade deadline, the Pittsburgh Pirates are plummeting out of the National League Wild Card picture. Amid this demise, a trend has begun to take shape in regards to the club's right-handed ace Paul Skenes. And it isn't one of the positive variety.

In his latest start on the road against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Skenes tallied only his second defeat on a Major League mound. He threw six innings, allowing four earned runs on six hits, one of which was a 427-foot solo blast off the bat of the Home Run Derby champion Teoscar Hernández.

He is the slam dunk pick to win the NL Rookie of the Year. The Pirates' No. 30 has pieced together a remarkable rookie campaign, living up to the hype that has been placed on his name since he was selected first overall in the 2023 Major League Baseball draft. Still, we're beginning to see some concerning numbers when it comes to his fastball, which could imply that he is tiring out.

In Skenes' first five Major League games, he threw 55 pitches at 100 miles per hour or faster. Just unreal stuff. In his last 10 starts, he has thrown 25 pitches at that speed. Skenes' fastball velocity has been declining, especially in the first inning. While he hit 101.3 mph against the New York Mets on June 5, his recent start in Los Angeles saw his top speed drop to 98.6 mph. Though still well above the May league average of 93.7 mph, this decrease is noteworthy.

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Pittsburgh needs to be cautious with its franchise pitcher with less than two months remaining

In 2024, Skenes has so far tossed 119.1 innings across the major and minor leagues. His total innings pitched last year, split between Louisiana State University and the minor leagues, exceeded this — 128.4 innings to be precise. It's still safe to say that he is wearing down toward the tail end of his debut season or the Pirates are directly encouraging him to take a bit of his fastball.

July was the first time he has pitched seven or more innings on three occasions in the same month since he left LSU.

If Pittsburgh continues the form it has been in, there should be a legitimate discussion about whether Skenes should be shut down for the rest of the campaign. Why not save some bullets for games where the Pennsylvania outfit is in a prime position to claim a postseason position down the line?

The California native's next start is likely to be this upcoming Friday at PNC Park against the Seattle Mariners, the team with the third-worst OPS in baseball.