Last year, there wasn’t much of a point for Paul Skenes to throw 200-plus innings, something he’s never done before, with the Pirates out of contention for such a large portion of the season. 

This year, he says he’s planning to throw for “seven months of baseball,” beginning with his expected opening day start against the Mets on March 26.

“I don’t know how many innings you play in the postseason,” Skenes said, “but the plan is to be built up and ramped up for that.”

Skenes, who threw 187 2/3 innings last season, said leading Major League Baseball in innings pitched isn’t something he’s too concerned about. He ranked 10th in MLB in that category lat year and noted the difference between himself and an “old school pitcher” like San Francisco’s Logan Webb, a workhorse who led MLB with 207 innings pitched. Still, Skenes ideally would be out on the mound for as many innings as possible in 2026.

“It's tough sometimes, but there was a stretch over the course of last season when it fell like seven or eight innings each time,” Skenes said. “Relatively the same line. That’s something I took pride in. The way to do that is by being more efficient. You get quick outs, you don’t let guys on, you do all that stuff that adds up to more innings at the end of the year. That’s what I'm focused on.”