PITTSBURGH (AP) — Paul Skenes grew used to the buzz that surrounds him a while ago.
Still, Saturday was different. Throughout an unseasonably warm spring afternoon, the mania that seems to follow the 22-year-old Pittsburgh Pirates ace whenever he takes the mound collided with the reality of the current state of his underperforming team.
A day that began with fans queueing up outside the gates of PNC Park more than five hours before Skenes delivered his first pitch — all in the in hopes of securing one of the 20,000 bobbleheads inspired by the National League Rookie of the Year — ended with a 3-0 loss and the increasingly familiar chants urging owner Bob Nutting to sell the team.
The irony this time is that the club's executives avoided the kind of public-relations missteps that have become all too frequent over the season's opening month.
Due to what Pirates president Travis Williams called unprecedented demand, the team pledged to make sure that every one of the 37,113 who waited in lines that stretched for blocks in every direction — including across the Roberto Clemente Bridge into the city's downtown — would be able to obtain one of the popular collectibles.
It didn't take long for some of them to pop up on eBay, though for far less than a one-of-a-kind Skenes rookie card that fetched more than $1 million at a public auction last month.
Asked if he thought the bobblehead bore more than a passing resemblance to him, the bearded Skenes — who is about 6 feet taller than the figurine — shrugged.
“It’s a bobblehead,” he said. "It’s not my thing.”
He didn't notice the growing crush of people outside the ballpark when he arrived for work, though he called seeing a sellout for just the second time this season “cool.”
“Wish we would’ve gotten the win,” Skenes added inside a postgame clubhouse so quiet the most notable noise was coming from the air conditioning unit in the middle of the room.
Those moments have been far too infrequent during an opening month in which the Pirates' play has offered a reminder that for all of Skenes' brilliance, it takes more than a phenom pitcher to compete against some of baseball's best teams.
Skenes did his part, limiting the Guardians to two runs and six hits across seven efficient if not quite overpowering innings. Making the first start of his big league career on four days' rest, Skenes struck out a season-low four batters, which he chalked up to Cleveland's approach more than the quality of his stuff.
There was just one true mistake, a 93 mph splitter on the first pitch of the seventh that dipped down and in to Kyle Manzardo. The left-handed designated hitter turned on it and sent it bouncing into the Allegheny River to put the Guardians up 2-0.
“I’m not going to lose any sleep over this outing,” he said. “Just got to score runs.”
Something the Pirates have not done with any sort of consistency. Five days after putting up a season-high 10 runs to back Skenes in a win over Washington, Pittsburgh managed just six hits while being shut out for the third time in a week.
The Pirates went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position, the most damning a two-batter sequence in the sixth in which first-and-third with no outs ended with Ke'Bryan Hayes taking a ball that looked outside for strike three, immediately followed by Tommy Pham grounding into a double play.
The unease that bubbled up during the home opener — when a plane flew overhead dragging a banner urging owner Bob Nutting to put the team up for sale — is starting to become a constant.
While there were boos after Pham's dribbler to second ended the scoring threat, a brief but noticeable “sell the team” chant curiously popped up after Skenes gave up the homer to Manzardo. It quickly died out, and Skenes was given a generous ovation when he walked off the mound after the top of the seventh following a performance that gave his team a chance to win.
Only the Pirates didn't. Just as they haven't in three of his five starts this season, or in 14 of their first 22 overall.
Skenes brushed aside the idea that frustration is starting to creep in, even with the Pirates dealing with the same issues — namely offense and spotty work from the bullpen — that plagued them during a late-summer swoon that dropped them out of contention in 2024.
Everyone from Nutting to Williams to general manager Ben Cherington to Shelton to Skenes has said it's time for Pittsburgh to win. Those wins aren't coming with any regularity.
The window to contend that the club expected to open in 2025 remains shut. And no amount of giveaways can distract the fanbase, even as their bright young hope continues to look every bit the budding superstar that he is.
Skenes brushed aside the idea that frustration is starting to mount internally, even as it ratchets up externally, even on days that begin with the giddy frenzy that seems to follow Skenes wherever he goes in full bloom.
“We’re just not executing at a high enough level and as consistently as we need to, to win these games,” he said. "I don’t think it’s a clubhouse thing. Everybody likes each other. But positive feelings, friendships and all that don’t win championships. We've got to figure it out.”
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Will Graves, The Associated Press
