The Pittsburgh Pirates are set to promote top pitching prospect Paul Skenes to the Major League level to make a start Saturday versus the Chicago Cubs.
Skenes has largely dominated the Triple-A level this season, posting eye popping figures, and regularly touching triple digits on his fastball. Taken first overall by the Pirates in 2023, the hard throwing righty signed for $9.2M setting a new amateur bonus record in baseball history.
Despite the fact that many scouts believed that Skenes was already Major League ready when the Bucs selected him, Pittsburgh opted to slow play his development, and have him begin his career in the minors. As a result, the 21 year old hasn’t thrown more than 75 pitches in any of his AAA outings thus far as the club hopes to avoid needing to cap his innings mid-season.
Standing 6’6″ and weighing 235lbs, Skenes is an imposing figure on the mound. Couple that with his fastball which has eclipsed 102mph several times in Triple-A Indianapolis, and the Pirate rookie could quickly earn a reputation as the hardest throwing pitcher in the major leagues.
Armed with a combination splitter/sinker, a plus slider, and a “change up” that still runs 88mph on average, and one can see why some analysts believe that Skenes is the best pitching prospect of his generation.
The former LSU standout will join a Pittsburgh rotation that also features Jared Jones, Mitch Keller, Martin Perez and Bailey Falter. Despite their sluggish start, the Pirates sit only 5 games back of the division leading Brewers heading into Wednesday night’s slate of games.
Injecting Skenes’ electric arm into their lineup could be just what the club needs to help close that gap heading into the summer months of the schedule.
Photo: Minda Haas Kuhlmann. This file is licensed under theĀ Creative CommonsĀ Attribution 2.0 GenericĀ license.