Pirates pitching prospect Paul Skenes is part of a new era for Major League Baseball’s future stars who are making their debut with the professional clubs.
Skenes became the latest player to be promoted after recording a 0.99 ERA with 45 strikeouts and 0.91 WHIP over seven starts (27.1 innings) at Triple-A Indianapolis.
Skenes will make his first major-league start on May 11 against the Chicago Cubs in front of his home crowd at PNC Park.
Skenes provides new hope to a franchise that has not won a title since 1979. He will also add some excitement to the loyal fan base.
“I can’t wait to win,” Skenes said when he was drafted. “I am excited to be a Pirate. I’m excited to be part of the group that wins another World Series.”
Skenes joins an exciting group of young players in Major League Baseball. The league’s new rising stars include Gunnar Henderson (Baltimore Orioles and 2023 AL Rookie of the Year), Elly De La Cruz (Cincinnati Reds), Anthony Volpe (New York Yankees), Jordan Westburg (Orioles), Patrick Bailey (San Francisco Giants), Javier Assad (Chicago Cubs), and Bryce Miller (Seattle Mariners).
The positional players provide a unique blend of speed and power. The pitchers have the potential to dominate a lineup.
Skenes was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft. He is the third-ranked in MLB behind Orioles shortstop Jackson Holliday and Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio.
Skenes has drawn comparisons to former Washington Nationals and three-time All-Star pitcher Stephen Strasburg and has a fastball that can reach 102 mph. Skenes also has solid command and can consistently find the strike zone and allowed just eight walls this season in the minors.
Skenes was the consensus top pick in the MLB draft after a dazzling career at LSU.
In 2023, he was named the National Player of the Year by Collegiate Baseball and by D1 Baseball. Skenes also became the first Tigers player to win the SEC Pitcher of the Year since Aaron Nola won the award in 2013 and 2014.
Skenes was also dominant in the postseason and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2023 College World Series after going 1–0 with a 1.15 ERA in two starts (15.2 innings). He allowed two runs on seven hits with two walks and 21 strikeouts.
Skenes finished No. 1 in the nation in strikeouts (209), in strikeouts per nine innings (15.33) and WHIP (0.75). He finished No. 2 nationally in ERA (1.69), No. 3 in strikeout-to-walk ratio (10.45), and No. 5 in hits allowed per nine innings (5.28).
“We took him 1–1. We really, really think highly of him,” Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said. “We’re placing a very strong bet on him and have believed since the day we drafted him that he’s going to be a really good major league starting pitcher. But pitching is hard to predict a week from now, let alone a year from now.”
The main goal is to stay atop the standings and make a deep run in the postseason where Pittsburgh has not played since 2015.
The Pirates are a storied franchise with 42 former players, managers, and executives in the Hall of Fame. Thirteen of those 42 spent the majority of their careers with the Pirates.
The franchise is confident that Skenes will do his part to make the Pirates contenders again.
“We want to win games, and they give us a chance to make that happen,” Cherington said. “In most cases, we'd really like to have models that really inform our decisions. And then humans can stress those models and push them left and right. In this case, we don’t have a model telling us.”
