Skenes owns a 0.53 ERA in 17 innings with the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians.
Indianapolis has this guy who throws 101 mph as a former No. 1 overall pick in the draft. He dates a national champion gymnast he went to school with where he also won a national championship at LSU as the nation’s best pitcher. He has a mustache fit for the 80s and a strikeout strut fit for any generation. A talent any franchise would dream of.
His name is Paul Skenes. You may have heard of him. But soon, you very well may see him on a mound near you. Enough of the buildup, there’s a good chance Skenes is not weeks, but days away from pitching for the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.
Skenes goes to the mound Tuesday for Triple-A Indianapolis against the Buffalo Bison and will make his scheduled start despite the Indians’ three-game series being postponed in Omaha due to a tornado and other inclement weather. His velocity was slightly down during his April 24 start after 34 pitches 100 mph or higher.
Arguably the most dominant arm in the minor leagues and the best pitcher in the Pirates organization, Skenes owns a 0.53 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, and .164 opponent batting average through 17 innings with 34 strikeouts. He exceeded 70 pitches for the first time this season during his fifth start and the first instance where he pitched into the fifth inning (4.1 innings). It was also the first time he allowed a run.
May 10 has become the new benchmark where people are seeing the forest through the trees and Skenes very well could debut at PNC Park. A Friday night home game against the Chicago Cubs? It would be one of the most highly anticipated debuts in recent memory.
Pirates pre and post-game host Dan Zangrilli continues to point at May 10 as his own ‘educated guess’ when Skenes will make the majors. One minor league player told me if Skenes were to debut, he would expect Skenes to pitch the following day on Saturday. This would line up with the typical amount of rest allotted to minor league starters with one off day per week on Mondays.
In a nutshell, we’ll be able to feel it in the air when Skenes trots to the mound at PNC Park in front of a sold out crowd. The time might be now.
The Pirates are in a freefall and have lost seven of their last 10. They are 9-16 sine starting the season 5-0 and only amounted two hits against the lowly Oakland A’s in the first of a three-game series. Starting pitching has been solid and a non-issue when the bats go colder than the arctic tundra. The Pirates tallied seven games of scoring one run or fewer in their first 30 contests, all losses. Pittsburgh may be saying goodbye to Oakland and the Oakland Coliseum, but should be time to say hello to the man who will pair next to Jared Jones as potentially one of the most dominating duos in Major League Baseball.
It might be time to book those tickets to the biggest show in town, less than two weeks away. If it’s not the 10th, or 11th, or will be very soon.