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.

Witt went 2 for 3 and scored twice to extend his hitting streak to 11 games. Witt hit his 13th homer, a two-run shot the opposite way to right-center field off reliever Chase Shugart to give the Royals a 6-2 lead in the fourth. He added a sacrifice fly in the sixth.

Pregame analysis and predictions of the Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Kansas City Royals MLB game to be played on July 8, 2025 on ESPN.