After posting back-to-back sub-2.00ERA in the last two seasons, it turns out Paul Skenes is human after all. The realization comes at the worst possible time for the Pittsburgh Pirates, as their postseason hopes fade. Scrambling for ideas, the Pirates even pushed back the reigning Cy Young winner’s start to give him additional rest days to recover and reset. Yet none of it seemed to work.

As he struggled again on Wednesday, an MLB analyst has pointed out a simple solution.

“If he could just stay a touch longer closed instead of flying open early…that way it’ll be easier for him to keep it on line. Getting that ball in to a righty and away to a lefty,” advised Dan Pleasac on MLB Network.

Pleasac tried to indicate a minor timing flaw from Skenes’ end.

Per the analyst, he should keep his front shoulder and hip point to the third base for a little longer during the windup. Right now, his front side rotates and opens up too early to take the momentum. It pulls his arm across his body and hurts his control and command.

After Paul Skenes’ fastball velocity reached a career-low of 95.7 mph against the Miami Marlins, the Pirates pulled him after just 65 pitches across 5.0 innings. He allowed 2 runs on 5 hits, including a homer during his outing. With his 3.88 ERA nowhere near his previous seasons, the Pirates gave him extra days of rest. Manager Don Kelly pushed the entire rotation back by three days and had reliever Lake Bachar starting Sunday’s game.

However, pitching on 7 days’ rest did not improve much for Skenes.

Though his velocity improved slightly, with 21 pitches at 97 mph or higher, the command issues prevailed.

During the Pirates’ 4- 3 victory against the Detroit Tigers at PNC Park, Skenes surrendered 3 runs on 4 hits while striking out 5. Across his 81-pitch outing, the command issues were glaring as Skenes gave up 4 walks. He also threw only 46 strikes during the game.

The 24-year-old holds a 9-11 record with a 3.95 ERA across 26 starts in 139 innings this season. He has only recorded 3 wins in his last 17 games. Skenes needs to regain his footing on the mound ASAP, and Plesac knows how to proceed.

“If you take two pieces of string and draw a straight line from both sides of the rubber, about a foot out towards home plate, you’d want to keep your body inside those two strings as long as you can,” observed Plesac on MLB Network.

“… he was rotating, but he was still staying on line towards home plate. You’ll get more movement because you’re leaking and your arm angle is going to be a little bit lower, and the ball is going to tend to run into a righty, away to a lefty.”

As the analysts opined, mechanics are the answer to Skenes’ recent troubles. Now, the ace has to fix it.

Meanwhile, Skenes has shared his thoughts about pitching on 7 days’ rest.

Paul Skenes on new pitching routine

On Wednesday, Paul Skenes pitched on seven days’ rest for the second time this season. He did it once before, right after the All-Star break.

During the July 19 outing, he allowed only 1 run across 7.0 innings against the Cleveland Guardians. So, the Pirates hoped for the same this time. But it did not work out.

In the first inning itself, Skenes needed 15 pitches to work through the first two batters. Yet he could not get the job done and ended up walking both Cole Keith and Gleyber Torres. However, he escaped the jam after striking out Dillon Dingler and retiring Brett Callahan on a pop-up.

The second inning started much the same with a leadoff walk, but Skenes came out on top.

He induced a 6-4-3 double play to see the inning through. However, Skenes spiralled again in the third, with consecutive singles to Hao-Yu Lee and Keith. Kevin McGonigle’s sacrifice fly scored Lee, tying the game at 1-1. The inning ended as Bryan Reynolds made a diving catch to put a stop to Dingler. The fourth inning went uneventfully.

Don Kelly did not want Skenes to pitch more than 85 pitches on Wednesday. With his pitch count going up, Skenes’ outing was almost at the end.

In the fifth inning, he allowed his final batter of the day, Lee, to put runners on. With one out, Torres drove in Max Clark.

As Kelly pulled Skenes, reliever Gregory Soto took over.

Following the match, Skenes reflected on pitching on 7-days’ rest.

“Felt good,” Skenes said, per MLB.com. “Just a little out of sync, I guess, kind of the whole outing, which probably makes sense a little bit with the longer rotation. But nice to be back.”

Skenes might have felt good, but it’s yet to reflect in his splits. Following the day off, the Pirates will face the Dodgers next.