Paul Skenes had a start no one expected. The Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher, who won the National League Cy Young Award last season, was taken out of his very first game of the 2026 MLB season after getting just two outs. He threw only 37 pitches and gave up five runs in less than one inning against the New York Mets. For a player seen as one of the brightest young stars in baseball, this was a tough and surprising moment.The game actually began well for Pittsburgh. Brandon Lowe hit a two-run home run at the top of the first inning, giving the Pirates an early lead. It looked like Skenes had the perfect setup to begin the season strong. But things quickly changed. He struggled to find control, and the Mets started taking advantage. He also hit Francisco Alvarez with a pitch, adding to the pressure.There were fielding mistakes too. Center fielder Oneil Cruz made two errors that made things worse. First, he misjudged a ball, and then he lost another in the sunlight. Those mistakes helped the Mets score more runs and kept the inning going longer than it should have.Manager Don Kelly decided to step in early. Speaking to NBC, he explained the reason clearly. “Yeah really tough inning for us. It’s pitch-count related really, for him. I don’t want to push him into the mid-40s.” With Skenes already at 37 pitches and struggling, the team chose not to take any risks.
Paul Skenes struggles early despite bold preseason message as Don Kelly removes Pittsburgh Pirates star after just 37 pitches
One important detail is that there were no injury concerns. That was the only positive for Skenes and the Pirates after such a rough start. He walked back to the dugout looking stunned, knowing this was far from how he imagined Opening Day.What makes this more surprising is what Skenes said just a day earlier. He was full of confidence and spoke about big goals for the team. “We want to win the division. We want to make the playoffs. That’s it. How we do that, who knows?” he said. “I don’t want to put a number of games out there because that’s just putting a ceiling on us. We’ve got to go out there and play well every day. We have a good team. Now we’ve got to go out there and win.”Less than 24 hours later, he was dealing with one of the toughest moments of his young career. Former MLB pitcher Adam Ottavino, speaking during the broadcast, summed it up simply. “It’s a bit of a nightmare, you’d be hoping he cleans up five or six innings. You’ve got to move on, you have to move on.”Off the field, Skenes’ girlfriend Livvy Dunne was not clearly seen at the stadium. She had earlier said in an interview with Daily Mail during Super Bowl week that she hoped to attend every one of his starts this season. At the moment, she has been in California working on her acting debut for the Baywatch remake.Still, she showed support online. On Opening Day morning, she posted on Instagram, “Happy opening day to those who celebrate.”For Skenes, this was not the start he wanted. But the season is long, and one bad inning does not define a year.
