Pittsburgh Pirates pitching prospect Paul Skenes, the No. 1 pick in the 2023 MLB draft, made his Double-A debut Saturday night. It did not go as planned. Pitching for the Altoona Curve, Skenes did not make it out of the first inning against the Akron Rubberducks (the Cleveland Guardians affiliate), and was charged with four runs. His line: 2/3 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K. He threw 25 pitches.
"A bad outing is just a bad outing," Skenes told MiLB.com following the game. "It's just baseball. Obviously, I want to go out there and win and pitch as best as I can every outing, and I'm going to do everything to prepare to do that for every outing. But, it is baseball. The beautiful thing is it's never as bad as it seems, and it's never as good as it seems."
Skenes, who struck out 209 batters in 122 2/3 innings for national champion LSU this spring, reportedly hit 100 mph Saturday and threw 12 fastballs at 99 mph. Prior to Saturday's outing, Skenes had retired 12 of the 14 batters he faced in three outings in the lower minors, five via strikeout. Here is his first Double-A punchout:
Given his college workload this spring, the Pirates are expected to let Skenes throw only 20 or so innings the rest of the season. He is already at 4 2/3 innings through four minor-league appearances, so only a handful of outings remain. The Pirates figure to turn the right-hander loose next year. All signs point to Skenes making his MLB debut sometime in early 2024.
Our R.J. Anderson ranked Skenes the No. 5 prospect in the 2023 draft class. Here's his write-up:
Skenes is an imposing figure with upper-90s velocity and a strikeout rate near 48% against SEC hitters ... scouts and analysts who spoke to CBS Sports expressing reservations about his fastball shape. The short version is that his four-seamer features minimal separation between its induced vertical break and its horizontal break, putting it in the "dead zone." The fear is Skenes' four-seamer will play down as a result, causing him to underperform draft night expectations. Consider Nathan Eovaldi, another big-armed righty with minimal separation; prior to this year, opponents had hit .300 or better against his fastball in three consecutive seasons. Skenes' velocity may mitigate some of the effect, and it's possible his employer will help him find a better shape, or will have him shift to his sinker (his current one features more run than Dustin May's).
Despite Skenes putting the team in an early 4-0 hole, Altoona rallied to win Saturday's game 9-8 (box score) on a walk-off single by catcher Carter Bins. Altoona's regular season ends Sept. 17 and the club is five games out of a postseason spot.
