Paul Skenes' lower velocity and higher ERA can be traced back to the World Baseball Classic, according to the ace himself: "There are a lot of other factors, so I don’t want to put everything on that," Skenes told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, "But I feel like [the WBC] was kind of the root of it a little bit." The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner's ERA as of this post is 3.91 in 2026 after posting a 1.96 and 1.97 in '24 and '25, respectively. His average fastball velocity is down from 98.8 MPH two years ago to 96.8 this season. Skenes pitched 8.1 innings in the WBC along with various bullpen sessions and exhibition games which were all no-doubt thrown with higher intensity than if he were in spring training. "Usually, that time of year [in March], you’re kind of ramping up and it’s a little bit slow... Looking back, I don't think that really helped." He's still shown in certain games this year that he's elite but every fan has noticed the entire body of work this year hasn't been...