Paul Skenes Is Adding More Pitches To His Repertoire

Paul Skenes Is Adding More Pitches To His Repertoire

Paul Skenes is already one of the best pitchers in baseball. He won NL rookie of the year in 2024 and is looking to become even more dominant in 2025. Look out baseball world because Skenes is adding more pitches to his mix.

“Just trying to create more swing decisions,” Skenes told reporters Saturday in Bradenton, Fla.

“Anything that looks like a fastball and doesn’t end up being a fastball [helps],” pitching coach Oscar Marin said, according to the Associated Press. “I think we all know how special his fastballs are. [More options are] just something that is going to really open up the zone for him as well.”

2023 MLB Draft Profile: Paul Skenes

Skenes, 22, already features a four-seam fastball, sweeper, slider, sinker, curveball, and change up. He now wants to add a cutter and two-seam fastball to his arsenal. Keep in mind, we’re already talking about a guy who was in the 95th percentile as a rookie in terms of K rate. He struck out over 33% of opposing hitters as a rookie.

After his call-up in May, the former LSU product went 11-3 record posting a 1.96 ERA last year. I don’t see anything changing this season considering his fastball consistently touches 99 MPH. His metrics on Savant are all off the charts too. Imagine how good this guy will be when he actually reaches his prime?

The Pirates have a true ace on their hands. It’s a matter of if they can actually start to build a winner around him. Something that didn’t happen during the Gerrit Cole era.

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