Olivia Dunne‘s boyfriend Paul Skenes has emerged as one of baseball’s most dominant pitchers in 2025, yet even with his incredible personal achievements, the Pittsburgh Pirates are once again headed into the offseason without a playoff appearance.
Despite a standout season that has him poised to win the NL Cy Young Award, Skenes is frustrated, and he’s calling for self-reflection across the board.
“This is a wasted year if we don’t learn what we need to do and we don’t know why we didn’t go out there and do what we wanted to do,” Skenes said.
“If those things happen, then it’s a wasted year, in my opinion. I don’t think that’s happening. I think, individually, as a team and as an organization, we know the adjustments we need to make. Now, we’ve just got to do them.”
Though still just 23, Skenes has earned national attention not only for his pitching but also for his relationship with social media star and former gymnast Olivia Dunne.
The high-profile couple has become a regular talking point, but Skenes remains firmly focused on baseball, even as the Pirates suffered their 29th losing season since 1992.
Skenes Puts Pressure on Teammates After Disappointing Finish
While the Pirates offense sputtered, ranking near the bottom of the league in runs, home runs, and OPS, Skenes consistently dazzled. His MLB-leading 2.03 ERA, 209 strikeouts, and .199 opponent batting average are all Cy Young-worthy. But he enters his final start of the season with a pedestrian 10-10 record, a reminder of how little support he received.
“No starting pitcher has captured the Cy Young with a record of .500 or worse,” one analyst noted. But Skenes remains the heavy favorite, and his competitive fire hasn’t dimmed.
“There’s room to get better in this locker room,” he said.
“We just need to do it. I’m sure we’ll get some pieces and do all that, but my mind right now is: ‘What can we do within the locker room to get better, now and for next year?’ There’s urgency to it, and we need to understand that and act on it.”
“It’s going to take a lot of guys taking a look in the mirror,” he added, “figuring out what it is that they need to get better at, and making sacrifices to do that.”
Despite the losing, Skenes has remained active in the Pittsburgh community, delivering meals to firefighters and first responders on off days, and has shown no signs of wavering commitment to the organization.
Trade rumors have swirled, especially given his future arbitration value, but the Pirates front office remains intent on building around him.
There have been no extension talks yet, but that could change this offseason. Still, Skenes says he’s focused more on self-improvement than negotiations.
“I’ll figure it out,” he said. “I’ll figure out exactly what it is. I know I can get better. Just got to figure out what it is.”
And for the Pirates, the hope is that the rest of the clubhouse follows his lead, because Paul Skenes is doing everything but winning alone.
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