Skenes has been pitching to the exquisite tune of a 2.36 ERA through 11 starts so far, yet he's also part of an offensively weak Pirates team that ranks last in the league with 157 runs. The Pirates (18-34) are currently down in the weeds hanging around a Colorado Rockies team that is off to the league's worst 50-game start in over a century.

If Skenes, who celebrated his first anniversary in the majors two weeks ago, has learned anything during his rise to stardom over the last three years, it’s that noise is not the same as news.

The Paul Skenes trade talk has gotten so out of control that the Pittsburgh Pirates star was even forced to address it after Friday's 6-5 win over the Milwaukee Brewers.