Paul Skenes looked so overpowering at times in his much-anticipated major league debut last week that every one of the Chicago Cubs’ six hits against him felt like a small miracle. His final line that day was mediocre, but his repertoire was electric. If the 6-foot-6 right-hander could command that nuclear fastball just a little bit better … well, baseball was going to be in for a shock.
In his second start, the command was sharp and the shock waves were felt around the majors. The No. 1 overall pick in last year’s draft blew away the Cubs with six no-hit innings at Wrigley Field, striking out 11 — including the first seven batters he faced. Skenes was untouchable, even against an experienced lineup that had plenty of time to adjust after seeing him last week. His fastball regularly was over 100 mph. His “splinker” skirted the plate and kissed the corners. And the Cubs swung at and missed more than a fifth of the pitches he threw.
Unsurprisingly, the Pirates did not let their 21-year-old golden ticket chase no-hit history. They pulled him after six innings, with his pitch count at 100. He threw just 84 pitches in his first outing, and few teams in today’s game would increase a young pitcher’s workload any more than that from one start to the next.
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Conventional wisdom holds that pitches at this level are the most stressful to date of any young hurler’s life. Skenes appeared to lay waste to such thinking Friday afternoon.
When the Pirates drafted Skenes out of LSU in July, he was considered as close to a sure thing as any college pitcher since Stephen Strasburg. Funnily enough, if the Pirates had not taken Skenes, the Washington Nationals might have had him. When the Pirates took Skenes first overall, that made the Nationals’ decision easier: They chose outfielder Dylan Crews, Skenes’s college teammate, with the second pick.
Crews is currently hitting .261 with an .806 OPS for Class AA Harrisburg, which means he is moving through the minors more quickly than most. But the mustachioed Skenes so completely befuddled minor league hitters that he gave the Pirates no choice but to see whether he could do the same in the majors. At the time of his call-up, Skenes had allowed three earned runs and struck out 45 batters in 27⅓ innings in Class AAA.
His next start probably will come next week, and in just 10 major league innings, Skenes has ensured that it will be appointment viewing. Can’t-miss baseball in May is rare — just as rare as can’t-hit stuff such as his.
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