There’s been only about 15% of the 2026 baseball season played, but I don’t think it’s too early to tell what kind of season Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes will have. Similar to the results from his first two major-league seasons, his start of 2026 is a good indicator he’ll be dominant once again.

Skenes and Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal are the two best pitchers in the game today. So, we expect high production from them. Skenes is not disappointing us so far. (Neither is Skubal, who is ripping apart the American League again.)

Skenes had a nice warmup in the World Baseball Classic in March, winning two games for Team USA. Fans usually worry about the WBC causing pitchers to rush getting ready for the high level of competition from the international games. He seemed to handle that concern without incident. He pitched the Americans to two wins, including a semi-final victory over a talented Dominican Republic team. It was a good sign he was on target for another fine season.

But then he had a disastrous Opening Day game against the New York Mets. Whoa! It was very unlike the Paul Skenes we’re used to seeing.

The big right-hander didn’t get out of the first inning against the Mets. In the worst outing of his major-league career, Skenes gave up five earned runs on four hits and two walks before Pirates manager Don Kelly yanked him with two outs.

In fairness to Skenes, Pirates centerfielder Oneil Cruz should be considered a culprit in Skenes’s poor showing. He misplayed two fly balls that contributed to four runs scored by the Mets. Although neither fly ball was officially scored an error, it was clear to most observers that Cruz could have reasonably caught both. In any case, the Mets chased Skenes from the game.

But then he bounced back.

In his next four starts, we saw the usual Skenes performance return. He allowed only nine hits and five walks in yielding only three earned runs. He struck out 22 in 21.1 innings and posted an impressive 1.27 ERA. He was credited with three wins.

Besides his impressive individual results, Skenes is giving the Pirates a good chance to win every time he goes out on the hill.

Without the benefit of a seasoned veteran pitcher on the staff, the 23-year-old is already the leader of the Pirates’ young pitching staff. He sets the tone for the rest of the team. They have the second-best staff in the National League, behind Atlanta.

Plus, the Pirates added much-needed offensive help over the winter, which has contributed to their initial overall results. With more offensive support, Skenes has a chance to record more than the 10 wins he managed to get last year. Although that didn’t stop him from capturing the Cy Young Award.

In a tight Central Division, the Pirates are holding their own, currently 12-9, one game behind the division-leader Cincinnati. At this time last year, the Pirates were in last place, already 5 ½ games behind the first-place Cubs. It was all downhill from there, as they finished 26 games out of first place, despite Skenes’s contribution.

Based on his performance to date, I give Skenes a grade of A-, with the Opening Day outing his only blemish.