Paul Skenes Strikes Out Seven in Highly Anticipated Debut
On Saturday afternoon, baseball fans across the world tuned into the Pirates-Cubs game to watch the highly anticipated debut of 2023 MLB first-overall draft pick Paul Skenes. Skenes, a flamethrowing righty with a devastating slider, has drawn many comparisons to Nationals righty Stephen Strasburg. His fastball sits in the upper 90’s, topping at 100.9 during his debut. In seven starts in triple-A Indianapolis before his call-up, Skenes sported an insane 0.99 ERA with 45 strikeouts in just 27.1 innings of work. This comes out to a staggering 14.8 K/9, which would lead the MLB this season by over four strikeouts per nine innings. He is one of if not the most talented prospects in the league, so this call-up was no surprise. It was a surprise to many he didn’t receive his call-up sooner.
In his debut, Skenes allowed six hits, walked two, gave up three runs, and fanned seven Cubs in four innings of work. He threw 84 pitches, which means he probably could’ve gone one or two more innings. However, similar to how he was used in the minor leagues, the Pirates don’t want to overuse their young superstar. One of these strikeouts came against Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki, who has been one of the best hitters in their lineup, with a .305 batting average and a 151 OPS+ coming into the game. He also showed his ability to pitch out of a jam, getting a bases-loaded strikeout and then producing a groundout in the third inning without allowing a run.
Even though allowing three runs in four innings is not an outstanding start by any means, his stuff was definitely there in his debut, and Pirates fans shouldn’t be alarmed by this. He is only 22 years old and has tons of potential. Skenes is the cornerstone of a young and improving Pirates team that looks to compete in the near future. Similarly, Skenes is going to be one of the premier arms for many years to come if he stays healthy. There is a lot of hype around him, and if his debut shows anything, he is going to rise up to it. It’s going to be exciting, besides for opposing batters, to watch the rise of Skenes in the coming years.
