Paul Skenes wasn’t thrilled with the plan the Pittsburgh Pirates had for him in the spring. This plan was meant to carefully develop the most promising pitching prospect in years and protect his valuable arm.
Now, after an impressive season where the 22-year-old rookie exceeded even the highest expectations—starting in the All-Star Game, nearly throwing a no-hitter, holding his own against top players, and making the Pirates relevant again—Skenes acknowledges that starting his first full professional season in Triple-A to build up his endurance was the right choice.
“I don’t know if there can be a perfect plan, but it was just about perfectly put together,” Skenes said on Wednesday. The exciting part? The season is almost finished.
As Skenes looks forward to his last start of the year at Yankee Stadium this weekend, he is already thinking ahead to 2025, when he hopes the restrictions on his pitching will be lifted.
“Next year, it’s hopefully just going to be ‘Take the ball and pitch,’” said Skenes, who has a record of 11-2 with a 1.99 ERA in 22 major league starts. “So I’m looking forward to that.”
He has good reasons to be excited. The top pick in the 2023 draft joined the major leagues in May with a fastball that frequently reached triple digits, and his confident style made his starts popular, quickly earning the nickname “Skenes Day” in the area.
Although Skenes still has his mustache, other aspects of his approach have changed. He worked hard on improving his secondary pitches throughout the year, knowing that just using a fastball and slider, which worked well for him at LSU, wouldn’t be enough to succeed against the best hitters.
His progress was clear on Sunday in Cincinnati, where he used a changeup a few times, with six of those pitches resulting in strikeouts. He struck out nine batters that day, raising his season total to 167 in just 131 innings.
“It’s not like we’re just punching X and O and triangle or whatever it is (in a video game),” Skenes said. “It’s like, ‘Well, I have it so I might as well throw it.’”
Pirates manager Derek Shelton described this ability as “rare” for someone in the early part of their career.
“You don’t see guys that are able to add to their arsenal their first year in the big leagues,” Shelton said. “They’re trying to throw strikes. They’re trying to execute pitches. They’re trying to get hitters out. Not that he wasn’t trying to do all those things, but to do it and add to it at the same time, I think it just shows you how special a player he is.”
Even though Skenes is focused on his performance, he is aware that his season has made him a strong candidate for NL Rookie of the Year.
While he wasn’t thrilled about starting the season in the minors, Skenes chose not to rush things. Instead, he excelled in Triple-A while waiting patiently for the call he knew would come if he just kept doing his job.
Shelton could tell that Skenes was disappointed when he didn’t make the opening day roster. This is one reason why Shelton feels positive about Skenes’ future.
“I’m in love with the fact that he wasn’t in love with it,” Shelton said. “He wanted to pitch. He wanted more. I think now he realized what our end goal was, and if we would’ve done something sooner, it would’ve been more challenging.”
The plan didn’t stop when Skenes was called up. The Pirates have been careful to give him an extra day or two between starts, especially as the postseason slipped away after a rough August.
It’s been a tricky situation, but Skenes has handled it well, even though the competitive side of him wants to pitch more often. That chance is likely coming next spring.
“That’s why I’m here: I’m here to pitch,” he said. “So I want to pitch as much as I can. If you shorten the rest period, you can pitch more as the season goes on. I’m looking forward to that.
That’s not something that’s going to be a complete 180 next year from how it is this year, but there are going to be a bit fewer restrictions on me.”
He also hopes there will be fewer losses for the Pirates. Pittsburgh was in wild-card position at the trade deadline but struggled in the late summer, mainly due to a weak bullpen and one of the lowest-scoring offenses in the majors. Skenes is hopeful that better days are coming, and the excitement he helped create at PNC Stadium isn’t just for the days he pitches.
“We’re going to be better next year,” he said. “We’re going to win a lot more games next year. So just keep coming.”
