Paul Skenes is having quite the season for the Pittsburgh Pirates when you compare the two. So far in 2025, the righty ace has 4.8 Wins Above Replacement. He has just four wins in his record. That's nearly impossible, although the stats only have some layer of correlation, clearly.

Jeff Passan pours cold water on the idea of Paul Skenes being traded ahead of the July 31 trade deadline on Watch ESPN, first streamed on Monday, July 7, 2025.

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It’s Monday, July 7 and the Pirates (38-53) are in Kansas City to take on the Royals (43-48). Andrew Heaney is slated to take the mound for Pittsburgh against Noah Cameron for Kansas City.

The Pirates are an underdog (+118 on the moneyline to win) when they take on the Royals (-141). The Kansas City Royals will give the start to Seth Lugo (6-5, 2.65 ERA), who is looking for win No. 7 on the season,