An Unflattering Shirtless Photo With Livvy Dunne On The Beach Has Fueled The Fire For The Paul Skenes Weight Gain Storyline And It's Time To Figure This All Out

Hubbs8/13/2026 8:00 PM

Maybe the biggest ongoing storyline in baseball is what's going on with Paul Skenes. As big of a name as he is, there honestly hasn't been enough buzz regarding what's wrong with him. This needs to be talked about by everyone. For two years all we knew with Skenes was dominance, historical dominance. This was a guy who would sit at 99mph, top out in the 100s, dot corners, and devastate hitters with his splinker. He was the perfect power pitcher and for his first two seasons had zero resistance from opposing hitters. This year, however, it's all been a mess. I wrote about this two weeks ago and since then no good has come for Paul.

Skenes was pulled from his last start after just 65 pitches, giving up one run over five innings. Immediately my fear was he was yanked from the game with an elbow injury that we all feared given his massive loss in velocity of late. In that start he only topped out at 96.5 MPH.

Even more alarming, Skenes didn't have a problem with the early hook and felt resigned to the situation.

Is it just because the Pirates are the Pirates and no one gives a fuck? This is nuts!

Well, one report has come up recently noting that Skenes had put on some extra LBs which could be throwing the whole equation off.

Well to back up the weight storyline, someone happened to snap Skenes shirtless on the beach with Livvy yesterday. This is an attack! Maybe he ate a big meal before this and was walking it off. We don't know the context.

Not exactly a good visual regardless when you have a perfectly toned Livvy standing next to anybody, but Skenes with a bit of a gut? Tough scenes. Listen, was it a bit of a surprise to find out I have a similar body type (minus the 6'6" part) to Paul Skenes? We're basically the same guy besides the fact that I live in New York City and he calls Pittsburgh home. With that being said, people gotta realize that pitchers don't necessarily have the best bodies among pro athletes. If you're expecting to see chiseled specimens sculpted by the gods on the mound, you'll be disappointed. There have been plenty of fat guys who excelled in the league for years like CC Sabathia, Bartolo Colon, and David Wells to name a few. Hell, even my guy Gerrit Cole has put on some weight since becoming a dad. But guess what? It's never impacted his performance.

Sarah Stier. Getty Images.

Chris Coduto. Getty Images.

Chris Graythen. Getty Images.

For CC he actually pitched worse when he shed off the weight. Now are there instances where weight has gotten out of hand and ruined a guy's career? Well…yes

But we are not at an Alek Manoah situation here with Paul Skenes, we gotta rein it in people.

I refuse to believe Skenes has lost multiple ticks on his fastball and can't reach 97 mph because he's gained some weight. That just can't be the answer. Could the weight have led to bad mechanics which then caused an injury? That I'll hear I suppose. Like this has to be an injury. I know pitchers are afraid to get MRIs, but this has to end with him getting one to see what's going on. He can't just keep getting blasted in these starts and having his fastball velo be nothing like it used to be. Someone has to do something!

Here's what manager Don Kelly had to say (h/t r/buccos)

Not exactly what you wanna hear a manager say about Paul Skenes.

Here's the reality. It's really hard to be a big-time power pitcher like Skenes, Misiorowski, or Schlittler where they're pumping 99 mph+ as much as they do. Sure some last longer than others, but the max velo stuff certainly has a shelf life. Is Skenes an example of that or is this just a blip on the radar? Despite velocity, all of his metrics on the fastball are good and effective. His issue, which I mentioned in the last blog, is that his secondary pitches like the splinker are getting teed off on. You want to say that his fastball still is getting whiffs and outs despite not touching 100 mph anymore sure, but not having to worry about that velocity allows you to handle the other stuff much easier.

If you're watching this guy unable to touch 97 mph and only go 65 pitches in an outing and you're not alarmed I don't know what to tell you. You can tell me all about his 2.99 FIP, but watch that Marlins start and tell me everything is okay. There were hard hit balls everywhere you looked, hence why he only lasted 65 pitches. Maybe the issue isn't easy to recognize and it's a lot harder than us just screaming about his velocity, but none of this is good. I wonder as the Pirates continue to sink lower and lower in the NL Wild Card hunt if they decide to cut their losses and shut him down. Unfortunately feels like we're either headed towards the most obvious serious injury ever or Skenes calling it a season and saving his bullets for next year.

Livvy, figure it out. Is the beach walk a step in the right direction or are we just trying to get his mind off things? Is Baywatch to blame? Too much time away from Skenes left him in a funk? Every option needs to be explored. We need the old Paul Skenes back.