Tim Benz: Load management for Paul Skenes heightens 'whipped-puppy syndrome' for some Pirates fans

The only thing worse than the Pittsburgh Pirates’ restriction on Paul Skenes’ innings Sunday was the support of that action from a (far too large) segment of the team’s remaining fanbase.

A segment that is apparently even more brainwashed than I suspected.

It’s certainly not all Pirates fans. In fact, I’d venture to say most folks I interacted with Sunday evening were as put off as I was that Skenes was pulled in Seattle during a scoreless tie after five innings. The second-year ace of the staff had racked up 10 strikeouts while walking no one through 78 pitches.

He clearly had enough gas in the tank to at least go an inning or two longer. As nature would have it (since we are talking about the Pirates), as soon as Skenes was pulled, Carmen Mlodzinski allowed a solo homer to Randy Arozarena for the game’s lone run.

The Randy Man delivers ????

Randy Arozarena clobbers a 110.2 MPH shot! pic.twitter.com/xs1i77KIAF

— MLB (@MLB) July 6, 2025

I’ve heard every defense of that decision under the sun.

• They are massaging Skenes’ pitch count so he can pitch through the end of the season.

OK, but if he is getting yanked under those circumstances in July, to what end? So he can get pulled after four innings in August and act as just an opener in September?

• They are protecting his arm so there aren’t too many miles on it when he has to be traded in a few years.

By that logic, they should’ve traded him while he was in Indianapolis. I understand being nihilistic about the Pirates. Trust me, I’ve been that way for 30 years. But if that’s their thinking, then trade him this July while his value is at its highest.

• They just want to make sure he can pitch in the All-Star Game.

Then manipulate his pitch count during his start this weekend in Minnesota. Or skip his start entirely. Going an extra inning in Seattle on July 6 was never going to prevent him from being able to throw one inning in the All-Star Game on July 15.

• It doesn’t matter if Skenes was pulled after the fifth. The Pirates weren’t going to score anyway.

Well, you’ve got me there. But at least maybe they don’t give up the game-winning run the very next inning, and you can pin the blame on the bullpen not doing its job as opposed to the manager and the general manager micromanaging the team.

• There’s no need to burn innings for Skenes chasing an empty result in July.

So then … what? He’s available for five innings to chase an empty result in September? It’s the Pirates. Every game is an empty result.

And therein lies the Paul Skenes dilemma for Bob Nutting, Ben Cherington and Don Kelly. His presence creates stakes for a team that otherwise had the comfort of winning or losing under the blanket of anonymity. Skenes’ arrival has forced the perpetual promise of the future to be dealt with in the present.

Sorry, boys. The jig is up. At least one game per week when Skenes pitches.

The problem with those rebuttals highlighted above is that not a single one would’ve been the least bit impacted by Skenes going out for the sixth inning and throwing another 10-15 pitches Sunday. He was cruising.

While Skenes himself acknowledged that he knew in advance of his start that it was going to be a “light volume day,” he allowed that he didn’t know “to what extent.”

I’m gonna guess that means, “I didn’t think they’d pull me after just 78 pitches when I was blowing the other team away in the middle of a scoreless tie.”

What was really bothersome to me was to see the number of Pirates fans who were parroting these excuses for why the Pirates’ handling of Skenes on Sunday was the right thing to do.

It’s as if we, as Pirates fans, have whipped-puppy syndrome. We are so used to being abused that we don’t know how to enjoy something in the rare moments when we are offered a treat.

My most memorable message I got on X Sunday was a person saying:

There is obviously an agreement in place between Skene's people and The Pirates. They will pitch him light for the years he is here and not over work him so he is valuable to move on…Skenes will make his $$$ with next team and team can get more prospects. Both sides win!

— Matthew D'Onofrio (@onofrio_matthew) July 7, 2025

Um, no, because — stick with me here — the Pirates didn’t win. Seattle did.

Not to mention the Pirates have lost 10 times in Skenes’ 19 starts, and trading him for prospects isn’t a win. It’s an admission that their small-market model will never yield on-field results, just like what we saw with the Gerrit Cole trade.

The franchise can manage Skenes’ right arm without sacrificing its own brain power. The five-inning/80 pitch cap — or whatever their subjective magic number is — needs to be more malleable given the score and situation of a given game. That’s if the Pirates want to keep up the illusion that winning even matters a little bit.

Again, at least on the days when their lone significant asset is on the mound.

Listen: Tim Benz and Mark Madden debate the merits of limiting Paul Skenes’ pitch count