Yasmani Grandal has been a frequent topic of conversation around Pirates fans and online circles.

Grandal’s defensive work behind the plate as catcher has been incredibly spotty over the year, from dropping pitches to failing to come up with big-time tags at home.

His bat has also been the subject of a lot of criticism. Though never thought of as one of the league’s best batters, Grandal signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates carrying a career batting average of .237 and five 20+ home run seasons.

That track record of serviceable batting has not followed the 36-year old ever since suiting up in black and yellow. He has never stayed long above the .200 mark this season, and his combination of low running speed and frequent groundball hits has meant that he is often called out at first base well before he even gets there.

It would be completely fair to call him a disappointment, by and large, for this Pirates team. It’s very possible that he provides a ton of mentorship and experience to a roster (and catching staff) that is pretty young, but fans will hardly see that actually play out on the field.

However, I think it is time that we acknowledge that Yasmani Grandal is actually a heck of a ballplayer, as long as one very specific factor is working for the Pirates.

That factor? Paul Skenes.

After another solid night that coincided with Skenes taking the mound, it’s time that we talk about the insane run that Grandal has been on, season long, in games where Skenes in the pitcher.

Grandal has seen his playing time cut significantly since the rise of Joey Bart, and rightfully so. But he is still largely thought of as Skenes’ personal catcher, despite the fact that manager Derek Shelton has still deployed the veteran in plenty of situations where Skenes was sitting in the dugout with a hoodie on.

Skenes and Grandal arrived in Pittsburgh at around the same time, furthering the link between the two. Grandal started the season on the Injured List after suffering from plantar fasciitis during spring training. After continuing his progress on a rehab assignment in Triple-A, Grandal was called up in early May.

He made his Pirates debut on May 4th. A week later, Skenes would make his major league debut.

Of the 16 games that Skenes has started, Grandal has also started all but two of them (the exceptions being a May 23rd game where Joey Bart played, and a May 29th double header where Grant Koch caught Skenes).

In the 14 games where Grandal has caught Skenes, he has gone 18-for-51, for a .353 batting average, which is an incredible bump up from the season-long .202 batting average he is posting.

Of the 5 home runs he has for the Pirates this season, 4 of them have comes in games that Skenes was the starting pitcher, including in his MLB debut.

Of the 20 RBI that Grandal has recorded, 12 of them have come in Skenes games.

He has recorded at least a hit in 12 of these 14 games, and last night was his fifth multi-hit game in a game where Skenes started.

That is one of the more crazier splits that I have seen for a major league player. The contrast between what Grandal does when Skenes is first to the mound, as opposed to any other player, is completely night and day.

For reference, in the 38 games that Grandal has played and Skenes wasn’t tabbed to be the starting pitcher, the Cuban native has gone 15-for-112, which is an abysmal .134 batting average. Despite having played in far more games without Skenes, he has just 1 homer and 8 RBI.

And if you are wondering, the Skenes magic largely only seems to work on Grandal for as long as Skenes is actually in the game.

In at-bats Grandal had after Skenes had been taken out (or in the bottom half of an inning and Skenes did not return for the top of the following frame), Grandal is 5-for-20, for a .200 batting average. Half of his Skenes-game home run count has come after the righty left the game, but that is still a pretty uninspiring batting average.

That means that Grandal is 13-for-31 (.419 average) while Skenes is active and pitching in the game. Skenes is truly doing wonders on this man.

With the aforementioned ascension of Bart, who has moved into starter’s territory behind the plate and even moonlit as a designated hitter on occasion thanks to his stellar bat, Grandal will be taking more of a backseat to things as the season winds down.

That will only be further complicated when the team likely recalls Henry Davis in September, when rosters expand. Though having an extra two players would ideally allow all three to co-exist, fellow young bats like Nick Yorke and Billy Cook are also waiting in the wings, and have earned their shot at a late season call-up as well.

But, is there enough smoke there to be fire? Grandal is such a different, and even at times game-changing performer (in a good way!) when the rookie phenom is on the mound. If Grandal does stick around, I think there should be a very simple criteria on when to use the guy. Is Paul Skenes pitching that day?

I don’t have any idea how there could be such a seismic shift in how Grandal performs at the plate when Paul Skenes starts the game as opposed to literally any other Pirate that’s on the mound, starter or reliever. But I love a good fan theory, so if you have any, fire them my way.

(Featured photo of Paul Skenes, left, and Yasmani Grandal, right, by Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images)