The Pittsburgh Pirates spent most of the season in the thick of the NL Wild Card race, but recent struggles have left them 5.5 games back of the third and final Wild Card spot entering the weekend. Sharp regression from staff ace and reigning Cy Young winner Paul Skenes has been at the center of the club\u2019s struggles. In a win over the Detroit Tigers on Thursday, Skenes went just 4.1 innings and allowed three earned runs in an 81-pitch outing. Skenes\u2019 ERA is now up to 3.95 on the season, after posting a 1.97 ERA in each of his first two seasons.<\/p>\n
After Thursday\u2019s game, MLB Network analyst Dan Plesac did a phenomenal job of breaking down the mechanical issues contributing to Skenes\u2019 regression.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always talk about how sometimes there\u2019s a fine line between being on and being off,\u201d Plesac, who pitched in the MLB for 18 seasons, said. \u201cAnd if you watch Skeens, the way he throws, he gets very rotational with his upper half.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd so he has a really good turn, but at times, he gets awfully quick. He gets more rotational this way,\u201d Plesac continued as he demonstrated the issues with Skenes\u2019 motion, \u201cas opposed to up and down.<\/p>\n
Former Pirates reliever Dan Pleasac critiques Paul Skenes mechanics. And very simply states why he\u2019s having control problems. Question: If it\u2019s this easy. Why aren\u2019t Skenes and overrated pitching coach Bill Murphy make these changes ASAP??? pic.twitter.com\/yI8oh1QFvg<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Andrew Fillipponi (@ThePoniExpress) August 20, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cAnd what happens, why he\u2019s struggling with the arm side, is if you rotate in that hip and your hip and your shoulder start to come this way, the arm starts to drag behind. Okay, so it\u2019s almost like he\u2019s getting this rotation with his upper half, and his arm is in this position here. When (Harold Reynolds) showed that tape of the All-Star Game, if you would draw, like, take two pieces of string and draw a straight line from both sides of the rubber about a foot out towards home plate, you\u2019d want to keep your body inside those two strings as long as you can.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd that was a great tape by Harold because in that All-Star Game he was rotating, but he was still staying on line towards home plate. What he\u2019s doing recently, he\u2019s rotating, and half of his body is like coming over that left rail. And so what happens, he\u2019s running this way, and he\u2019s trying to throw it to his arm side. He\u2019s throwing away from where he\u2019s going, right? So he\u2019s lost fastball command.\u201d<\/p>\n The good news for the Pittsburgh faithful is that Plesac, an MLB Network original, believes it\u2019s a relatively \u201ceasy fix.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s such an easy thing to fix. It\u2019s so minor that if you could just stay a touch longer closed instead of flying open early, stay a touch longer closed, and that way it\u2019ll be easier for him to keep it on line, getting that ball in to a righty and away to a lefty.\u201d<\/p>\n The Pirates aren\u2019t the only ones rooting for Skenes to get things sorted out on the mound. The flamethrower\u2019s high-profile relationship with former LSU gymnast and internet personality Livvy Dunne is at the heart of MLB\u2019s marketing plans to appeal to a wider audience,<\/a> akin to how the NFL has highlighted Travis Kelce\u2019s relationship with Taylor Swift. If Skenes can\u2019t turn things around, the Pirates will lose more games, and MLB might lose a pathway toward new fans.<\/p>\n \t