Paul Skenes’ Triple-A debut was short but perfect.
The 6-foot-6, 250-pound right-hander, selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates with the No. 1 overall pick of the 2023 MLB Draft, struck out five of the nine batters he faced and didn’t allow a baserunner in three innings Saturday afternoon for the Indianapolis Indians at Louisville.
It was the longest outing of Skenes’ professional career, as he pitched only 6 2/3 innings across three levels last summer. Ranked baseball’s top pitching prospect, Skenes threw 29 of his 46 pitches for strikes, touching triple digits a dozen times and topping out at 101.2 mph.
Paul Skenes is ready for the Show.
Is MLB ready for him? pic.twitter.com/HPrs5KZwF4
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 30, 2024
Paul Skenes RHP @indyindians
*Triple-A debut*9⬆️9⬇️
5 Ks
and so much ???? #LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/AwDk1ttdOk— Pittsburgh Pirates Player Development Report (@PGHplayerDev) March 30, 2024
Skenes fanned the first two batters he faced and four of the first six, averaging 100 mph on 21 four-seam fastballs while getting six whiffs on 14 swings. He showed a five-pitch repertoire, relying on 11 sliders and nine “splinkers” — a hybrid sinker-splitter — while mixing in three curveballs and two changeups.
In the first inning, Skenes got swinging strikeouts of Jacob Hurtubise on a 100.8-mph four-seam fastball and Hernan Perez on an 88.2-mph slider in the first inning before Blake Dunn flied out to center.
The second inning started with Mike Ford watching a 100.5-mph four-seamer for a called third strike. P.J. Higgins popped out to second base before Michael Trautwein foul-tipped a 100.5-mph four-seamer for a strikeout.
Louisville’s Rece Hinds grounded out to second base in the third. That was followed by a nine-pitch at-bat against Conner Capel, who worked a 3-1 count before fouling off the next five pitches as Skenes fed him a steady stream of outside fastballs before Capel struck out on a foul tip. Francisco Urbaez worked Skenes for six pitches before grounding out to third base on a curveball.
Left-hander Eric Lauer replaced Skenes in the fourth inning.
