Prepare. The Paul Skenes present is about to degree up in 2025.
When you’re not already accustomed to the reigning Nationwide League Rookie of the Yr and Pittsburgh Pirates‘ star pitcher, you may wish to be paying consideration now.
That is as a result of Skenes is wanting so as to add a cutter and two-seam fastball to a nasty repertoire that already consists of his signature “splinker” (splitter-sinker hybrid) pitch and conventional four-seam fastball that tops out at over 100 mph.
The 22-year-old right-hander had a dominant rookie marketing campaign with the Pirates, cruising to a 1.96 ERA in 133 innings pitched (23 begins). He additionally averaged 11.5 strikeouts per 9 frames, all of which culminated in an All-Star look, a top-three Cy Younger Award end (behind the Philadelphia Phillies’ Zack Wheeler and the Atlanta Braves’ Chris Sale) and naturally, the aforementioned Rookie of the Yr honors.
It is all sufficient to make you marvel why Skenes would even want so as to add two extra pitches, particularly when those he is already working with are overpowering sufficient. However that is the kind of competitor he’s, together with his mentality of “trying to create more swing decisions” for the opposing batter, as he instructed reporters at spring coaching.
To get a way of what going through Skenes is like from a hitting perspective, here is what teammate and utility participant Adam Frazier needed to say after live batting practice:
“When you hit it [the splinker], you are hitting it straight within the floor,” Frazier mentioned. “So it is like, ‘All proper, strap it on and prepare.'”
In fact, Skenes cannot carry the Pirates all by himself, as Pittsburgh had a modest offseason and appears positioned to be a middle-of-the-pack membership this season after profitable 76 video games in 2024. Though, any workload restrictions (very like the limits Pittsburgh placed on its young flamethrower final season) will surely make contending much more troublesome in 2025.
For now, although, the Pirates seem prepared to let Skenes experiment with an expanded pitch choice as spring coaching ramps up. And if he is capable of deliver these choices with him into the common season? Be careful.
