Somehow, Paul Skenes is Getting Even Better

In seven of the eight starts since he took the mound on Opening Day, Skenes has allowed one or zero runs, including back-to-back performances of eight-shutout innings in his two most recent.

He is one of four Major League pitchers in the Modern Era (since 1901) to pitch eight-scoreless innings while allowing two or fewer hits and issuing zero walks in back-to-back starts, joining Boston (AL)’s Cy Young (1905), Chicago (AL)’s Billy Pierce (1958) and San Diego’s Mat Latos (2010).

In three of his last four starts, he’s retired at least the first 14 batters he faced. He retired 20 in a row to start his outing against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field on April 24. He retired the first 14 batters he faced last week against the Diamondbacks in Arizona, and he sat down the first 14 he faced on Tuesday night — the first six of which came via strikeout.

“I said to [pitching coach Bill Murphy] during the game, back in 2011 with [Justin Verlander], every time he took the mound, you were shocked when he gave up a hit,” Kelly said of his former teammate with the Detroit Tigers. “Paul is on that type of run right now.”

The question of when he’s get his ERA this season back below 2.00 — if at all — was answered without hardly breaking a sweat. Dominant stretches like the one he’s in right now will do that.

Now the bigger questions prevail, specifically if he can win back-to-back National League Cy Young awards. Or if he’ll eventually throw a no-hitter, or even a perfect game, with the possibility of either happening somehow becoming a fairly-regular occurrence.

As he’s done throughout his career, Skenes will take it one start at a time.

“Every five days it’s a brand new thing. At the end of the day, why does one start build off another? It’s because you’re executing well and there are certainly times in the season when you’re executing pitches better than others,” he explained. “But in terms of mentality and how you’re going into each start, that’s not the way to do it. Every start is new and you can get humbled real quick.”

Skenes has been dominant for most of his career, but lately he’s elevated his game even further. If he keeps pitching like this, those questions will eventually shift from ‘if’ to ‘when.’

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