Pirates ace Paul Skenes studies Ohtani's sleep habits on Japan trip
The gist
Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes had a custom bed and pillow made in Tokyo after studying how Shohei Ohtani prioritizes sleep.
The trip caps a career-worst season for the 2025 NL Cy Young winner.
How it unfolded
- Jul 15, 2026Skenes addressed questions over a velocity drop and a "weird" first half, with his ERA (3.57) 0.86 higher than his expected mark (2.71).
- Aug 5, 2026A metrics deep dive found his groundball rate fell from 51.1% as a rookie to 39.7%, and he had already allowed 13 home runs, more than in either of his first two full seasons.
- Sep 8, 2026He threw 5 1/3 scoreless innings in his first career start against his childhood team, the Angels, in Pittsburgh.
Key terms
- NL Cy Young
- An annual award given to the best pitcher in Major League Baseball's National League.
- ERA
- A baseball statistic measuring the average earned runs a pitcher allows per nine innings pitched.
- World Baseball Classic
- A quadrennial international baseball tournament sanctioned by the sport's global governing body and organized with Major League Baseball.
Source: Wikipedia