We’ve talked a lot about what is ailing Paul Skenes, and while no formal conclusions have been made, there’s no denying the drop in velocity or the drop off in overall effectiveness. Skenes was initially slated to pitch yesterday against the Boston Red Sox, but that start has been moved back, and Skenes will now pitch Wednesday against the Detroit Tigers.
According to MLB.com, Skenes was supportive of the decision, saying:
“Ultimately, it was Donny’s decision. But we had talked about it — and like
I said after the last start, I’ll have his back on whatever that is. I don’t necessarily disagree with the decision either. It certainly can’t hurt in terms of recovery, and you add recovery in for anybody and that’s going to help. So I kind of wish it weren’t the case, that I was starting tomorrow, because that’s something I pride myself on. But in the long run, it’s definitely best to just get some recovery time.”
The move comes after Skenes was pulled following just 65 pitches in his previous start in which he failed to hit 96mph on his fastball for the lowest overall velocity mark of his career.
The Bucs took an 8-3 victory over the Red Sox on Sunday with Skenes out, while Skenes sits at 9-11 with a 3.88 ERA and 166 strikeouts, the fourth most in the NL. But he has a 5.79 ERA over his past nine starts, and he’s struggled more than at any point in his three-year MLB career.
The Bucs are now 61-65 on the season and sit 6.5 games back in the MLB Wild Card race. They start their next series tonight, with three against the Tigers on the North Shore. The Bucs are trotting out Carmen Mlodzinksy, Braxton Ashcraft and Skenes. The Bucs have 36 more games to change their fortunes and a couple big series coming up against the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals.
