The Pittsburgh Pirates have arguably the best pitching prospect in baseball in Paul Skenes.
After an impressive spring training with the big league club, he was sent to the minors even though it was clear he deserves a spot on the MLB roster.
In four outings and 12.2 innings in Triple-A, Skenes is proving he is ready for a big challenge.
On Thursday, he took the mound and once again was dominant: 3.1 innings, eight strikeouts.
His ability to miss bats is unmatched in MLB and Triple-A, as Codify Baseball states.
“No professional pitcher with at least 9 innings pitched this year has more strikeouts per inning than Paul Skenes! 27 strikeouts in 12 2/3 innings!” they tweeted.
No professional pitcher with at least 9 innings pitched this year has more strikeouts per inning than Paul Skenes!
27 strikeouts in 12⅔ innings! pic.twitter.com/CLI8e0mSyh
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) April 19, 2024
He can generate 101 and 102 mph with relative ease, and he has excellent secondary offerings, too.
On Thursday, he threw 34 of 65 pitches at 100 mph or more, and generated a whopping 11 swinging strikes.
In other words, he has the tools to get MLB hitters out right now.
The only reason (well, there are two) he isn’t in the majors right now is because A) he isn’t fully stretched out to a normal starter’s workload and B) the Pirates are taking advantage of reason A to earn an extra year of team control.
In any case, we will certainly see him up in the bigs this year, potentially soon.
The Pirates are competitive and could certainly use an arm like his to lead their rotation and, why not, make a run at the postseason in 2024.
Skenes is clearly a special talent, and the hope is that he can be up soon.
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