Why Paul Skenes means everything to Pirates after decades of irrelevance

The era of Pittsburgh Pirates’ top prospect pitcher Paul Skenes officially set sail on Saturday. Skenes was the first overall selection in the 2023 MLB Draft — and his hype has been of epic proportions.

Pitchers and catchers had barely reported to the Pirates’ spring training facilities in Bradenton, Florida, before everyone was asking, “When will Paul Skenes get called up this season?”

With a 13-2 record, 1.69 ERA, and 209 strikeouts, there’s no wonder Skenes was labeled the best player in college baseball and drafted No. 1 overall. The former LSU standout had just won a National Championship, along with the National Pitcher of the Year award and the Dick Howser Trophy, which is awarded to the best college baseball player each season.

Much to the dismay of Pirates fans, Skenes did not make the 40-man roster and was instead sent to Triple-A Indianapolis. In seven starts and 27.1 innings pitched, Skenes more or less blew away any competition. He allowed 17 hits, four runs (three earned), one homer, eight walks, adding 45 strikeouts to compile a 0.99 ERA.

The Pirates brass kept insisting that Skenes needed to increase his workload down in the minors before he could be called up. Going from rookie ball through Single-A all the way up to Triple-A, Skenes has played in just 12 games and pitched 33.3 innings. But his dominance in the minors became too difficult to overlook.

“I don’t claim that we have any sort of scientific master formula for how we’re doing this,” Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. “I don’t know for sure that this plan is right. I can’t say that.”

With the team starting to hit its typical second-month skid, now sitting in third place in the National League Central, 6.5 games back of the Milwaukee Brewers, Cherington could see Skenes as a spark for the team.

Paul Skenes has a historical Pirates debut but not always sharp

Paul Skenes made his MLB debut guns ablazing, striking out the first two Chicago Cubs’ hitters he faced. Mike Tauchman and Seiya Suzuki each went down to his blazing fastball, with the former seeing one of his 84 mph sliders. In fact, in his very first start, the 21-year-old now owns nine out of the top 10 fastest pitches for any MLB starter this year, with his fastest topping out at 101.9 mph.

If you’re a Pirates fan, it’s easy to get lost in all that Skenes is. He’s the type of guy you see in an airport and go, “Hey, that’s somebody.” His towering 6-foot-6, 235-pound frame is just the physical aspect, though. His athletic prowess is otherworldly, starting with his pitch selection. He can go from a ludicrous speed 100-plus mph fastball to a sweeping slider to then revving it back up to what most are calling a splinker. You can’t help but be mesmerized. But you can also be blinded by all of it if you’re the Pirates.