By now you’re already heard, but let me tell you anyways. The Pittsburgh Pirates are calling up starting pitcher Paul Skenes from the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians.
The first overall pick from 2023 will make his Pirates debut Saturday at PNC Park, in what is the most anticipated debut since Gerrit Cole’s Pirates debut back in 2013.
Skenes has a real chance to upstage a fellow first overall pick by Pittsburgh. Cole made his major league debut in June of 2013, two years after his draft day. Skenes is making his now in May of 2024, less than a full calendar year since the team called his name.
Skenes has been working his way up in pitch counts during starts for Indianapolis. In his first few games he only pitched the first couple innings, but in recent weeks that has expanded to more the count of a regular starting pitcher.
The monitoring of his pitch count was less about his ability to play and more about managing the amount of innings his talented arm goes through this year. The Pirates, their fans, and the baseball world at large know about the sheer skill Skenes has, it’s just a matter of making sure he can still pitch late into the year.
His final start in Triple-A saw him go 4.1 innings, allowing 3 hits and 2 earned runs (including his first allowed home run in the minor leagues).
Overall, his Triple-A ERA sits at 0.99, and he has struck out 45 batters in 27.1 innings pitched. He can regularly top 100 miles per hour on a throw and has made highlight reels of embarrassing batters.
The 21-year old LSU product will debut Saturday against the Chicago Cubs, and his arrival comes at a pivotal time for the Pirates.
Their batting performance has been nothing short of atrocious, and while their starting pitching has generally held up, we’re starting to see the smallest of cracks in that foundation. Skenes is much more than a patch job for it, he will become the main man the second he walks into the clubhouse.
The question becomes if Skenes’ talent on the mound can be properly utilized by the Pirates. He can only do so much by pitching, the Pirates still have to hit the ball.
We’ve already seen this with fellow rookie phenom Jared Jones, who despite being a top-five player in the major leagues in strikeouts and sporting a 2.67 ERA, has a 2-3 record.
It’s imperative now that both of these players are up in the majors, that the Pirates do not squander this talent.
Friday night begins a ten-game stretch against opponents in the NL Central. It‘s a blessing and a curse for the Pirates, who could really skyrocket back into the division lead, or could dig a hole too deep to climb back out of.
With the current trend of this Pirates team, it’s leaning towards the latter, but with Skenes now up, you never know. Maybe his call-up sparks something in the rest of the clubhouse, only time will tell.
One thing is for certain, his debut is going to be electric. And I can’t wait to be there to see it.
(Featured photo by Gerald Herbert/AP)
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