Pirates call up top prospect Paul Skenes
The Pittsburgh Pirates are calling up top pitching prospect Paul Skenes, the team announced Wednesday. He will make his MLB debut Saturday, May 11, against the Chicago Cubs.
Skenes, the No. 1 pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, is the best pitching prospect and third-best overall prospect in MLB, according to MLB Pipeline’s rankings.
He’s blown smoke through Triple-A bats this entire season. In seven starts, he sported a 0.99 ERA with a 1.7 FIP and 2.16 xFIP, striking out 42.9 percent of his batters faced (!!) with an absurd 35.2 strikeout-to-walk rate. His strikeout rate was 8.4 percentage points higher than the next-highest in Triple-A–Cade Povich (34.9 K%), a southpaw starter who’s the No. 9 prospect in the Orioles system, was second–and tied for the fourth-highest in the minors (min. 15 IP).
He had a microscopic sample in his first professional season, tossing only 6.2 innings (5.4 ERA, 35.7 K%) before pitching for the Pirates in spring training.
Skenes’ arsenal features a high-octane fastball (that can touch 101-102 MPH) and wipeout slider, inducing a 38.4 percent whiff rate this season and a 37.6 percent whiff rate for his career, per Baseball Savant. For perspective, Pirates No. 3 prospect Jared Jones leads MLB (min. 150 pitches) in whiff rate (37.0).
Skenes and Jones could be one of the best, most powerful young duos in the game. He will also join a rotation of Martin Perez, Bailey Falter, Mitch Keller and Quinn Priester, their 2019 first-round selection.
After yet another hot start, winning nine of its first 11 games, Pittsburgh has slipped back to four games below .500. Skenes’ much-anticipated arrival could provide a shock to the arm for a team just five games back of the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs for the NL Central lead.
***
This is a breaking news story. Stay tuned for updates.
SUBSCRIBE to the Vendetta YouTube Channel!
SHOP for Vendetta Merch!
SUPPORT Vendetta on Patreon!
Click here for more MLB content
