Pirates rookie Paul Skenes faces six batters, fans them all in first two innings of second MLB start
Pittsburgh Pirates rookie Paul Skenes is absolutely dealing early on in the second start of his MLB career.
Skenes retired the Cubs in order with six strikeouts on Friday in the first two innings. You can watch the first three Ks bellow.
The former LSU star also faced the Cubs in the first start of his MLB career on May 11. That day, he pitched four innings, allowing three earned runs. He struck out seven batters in the first start of his career against the Cubs.
Paul Skenes ended up striking out the first seven batters he faced on Friday, before a groundout eventually ended that run. Still, it was 9 up, 9 down for the righty flamethrower. All three of Skenes’ strikeouts in the first were on pitches of 100 miles per hour.
Skenes was taken with the No. 1 overall pick in last year’s MLB Draft after leading LSU to a national title. He was named the College World Series Most Outstanding Player in 2023 and also won the Dick Howser Trophy and National Pitcher of the Year Award.
Paul Skenes calls his MLB debut with Pirates an ‘interesting outing’
On Saturday, Paul Skenes, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, made his debut on the mound for the Pittsburgh Pirates. During an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Tuesday, Skenes weighed in on the difference between pitching against minor league and major league batters.
“I don’t want to call that outing a wash, but like it’s such a different and like interesting outing just because there’s so much other stuff going on there,” Skenes said. “It’s a little bit hard to kind of drown it all out. A major league debut is is a major league debut. So, I don’t know exactly.
“The hitters are definitely better. You have to be finer for sure, in terms of how you attack them and that kind of thing, but I don’t know. You’ll probably have to give me a couple more outings for me to give you a definitive answer on that.”
Although Skenes showed flashes of greatness, he was far from perfect. He allowed six hits and three runs in the outing, notching a 6.75 ERA. After the game, Skenes evaluated his performance.
“I have to get them out quicker, regardless if they’re major league hitters or not, I just have to get them out quicker,” Skenes said. “That’s the bigger thing for me, because, I think the way I threw today, it probably would’ve been a deep [start], or bigger pitch count.”