Something quite amusing unfolded at PNC Park on Tuesday evening. Paul Skenes—arguably one of the most elite arms in the league—was found doing something you would never guess. Something he would love to do when his baseball days are behind him. Yes, the 23-year-old already has his post-retirement plans figured out.

Right before the Pittsburgh Pirates went against the St. Louis Cardinals, Skenes was hanging out with the grounds crew as they were getting the field ready for the game. And Slenes wasn’t just catching up with them. He was there because he was simply bored.

Making the best of his time, Skenes was reportedly chopping the grass with the crew. That too, for a whole 20 minutes. And after the game, Pirates insider Noah Hiles followed up on Skenes’ gesture on X.

Well, as it seems, Skenes’ post-retirement plans include being a landscaper. From mowing batters to mowing lawns, Skenes would indeed love to make a living out of it.

Speaking of mowing batters, during the game against the Cardinals, Skenes had a stellar outing. He pitched five scoreless innings. He gave up just one walk and tallied five strikeouts. It contributed to the Pirates’ 1-0 win, their 5th consecutive victory.

For Skenes, it was his third outing against the Cardinals in the 2025 season. Of course, it went in his favor, unlike his first outing against the Cardinals on April 8. There, he gave up five earned runs across 6 innings, and the Pirates eventually fell to a 5-3 loss. The second start on May 6 was decent on his efforts with two earned runs across 6 innings. Still, the Pirates were handed a 2-1 loss. But this time, he broke that undesirable streak.

Despite it all, the Pirates continue to let him down…

Skenes’ dominant pitching and the Pirates’ poor offense

Of course, Paul Skenes, in his true dominant self, delivered another stunning outing on Tuesday night. But the Pirates once again failed to back him up with their offense. It’s frankly embarrassing now. He did his job, throwing 5 scoreless innings and striking out 5 batters. Yet, when he was done, he had no support from the offense.

Long after Skenes exited from the game, during the eighth inning, the team finally broke the scoreless logjam. Thanks to Henry Davis’ sacrifice fly, which gave the team a much-needed 1-0 lead. Then, during the ninth inning, their bullpen effort came to the rescue. Especially from the reliever David Bednar.

Skenes has been putting up an impressive set of numbers—2.03 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, and 115 strikeouts across 18 outings in 2025. Meanwhile, the Pirates were able to score more than two runs only once across 5 starts in June. Now, it has started to seem that whenever Skenes is on the mound, the team’s bats always fall silent. It stings, but that’s how it’s been throughout this season.

Still, Paul Skenes doesn’t stop praising his team, especially the defensive side. “All things considered, it went pretty well,” Skenes shared after Tuesday’s game. He also pointed out, “They [Pirates] could have easily put on a couple of runs there…. Just, you know, kind of had to grind through it a little bit, but pretty happy with it, especially the infield.”

Setting this aside, we can now look forward to his next outing against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. No doubt, he’ll put up another stellar outing. And this time, we expect the Pirates’ offense to show up, too.