The Pittsburgh Pirates slowly brought along Paul Skenes. The star rookie pitcher now understands why

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Paul Skenes wasn’t happy with the plan the Pittsburgh Pirates had taken care of him in the spring, the one designed to slowly produce the most talented pitching prospect in a generation and protect the right arm that so much depends on.

Looking back on a stellar season in which the 22-year-old rookie somehow exceeded even the most outrageous expectations – starting with the All-Star game, flirting with the occasional no-hitter, hold their own against the best in the game And making the pirates matter in a way they haven’t done in nearly a decade – Skenes admits the decision to have him start his first full professional season in Triple-A so he could gradually build up his stamina was the right call.

“I don’t know if there can be a perfect plan, but it was pretty much perfectly put together,” Skenes said Wednesday.

And the best part? It’s almost over.

As Skenes looks forward to his final start of the season when the Pirates visit Yankee Stadium this weekend, he’s already thinking about what awaits him in 2025, when the training wheels might come off, or at least be loosened significantly.

“Next year, hopefully, it’ll just be ‘Pick the ball and pitch,’” said Skenes, who is 11-2 with a 1.99 ERA in 22 starts in the Majors. “So I’m looking forward to that.”

With good reason. The top overall pick in the 2023 draft arrived in the major leagues in May, armed with a fastball that hit triple digits with regularity and a mustachioed swagger that turned his starts into what quickly became known locally as “Skenes Day.”

While the mustache remains, other parts of Skenes’ approach have evolved. He worked diligently throughout the year to develop his secondary pitches, well aware that the fastball/slider combination that served him so well at LSU would not be good enough to pick out the best hitters in the world .

It’s telling for Skenes’ development that he made occasional changes Sunday in Cincinnati, six of which served as a three-hitter on a day when he fanned nine batters to push his season total to 167 in just 131 innings.

“It’s not like we’re just hitting X, O and triangle or whatever together (in a video game),” Skenes said. “It’s like, ‘Well, I’ve got it, so I might as well throw it.'”

Something that Pirates manager Derek Shelton called “rare” for a player at such an early stage in his career.

“You don’t see guys who can add to their arsenal in their first year in the big leagues,” Shelton said. “They are trying to carry out strikes. They’re trying to execute pitches. They’re trying to get hitters out. Not that he didn’t try to do all those things, but by doing it and adding to it at the same time, I think it shows how special a player he is.”

Even if Skenes does his best to block out the noise or think a lot about a season that has made him a top contender for NL Rookie of the Year.

Although he wasn’t enthralled by the idea of ​​starting the season in the minors, Skenes refused to get ahead of himself. Instead, he went out and dominated at Triple-A, patiently waiting for a call that he knew would come eventually if he just went out and did his job.

Shelton felt Skenes’ disappointment when he didn’t make the opening day roster. It’s one of the reasons Shelton is so optimistic about Skenes’ future.

“I’m in love with the fact that he wasn’t in love with it,” Shelton said. “He wanted to pitch. He wanted more. I think he now realized what our end goal was, and if we had done something earlier it would have been more challenging.”

The plan didn’t end when Skenes was drafted. The Pirates deliberately gave him an extra day or two between starts, especially during the period when the postseason was out of reach after a swoon in August.

It’s been a delicate needle to thread, though Skenes has said and done the right things, even if the inner competitor in him would like the chance to do his job more often. That opportunity will probably come next spring.

“That’s why I’m here: I’m here to pitch,” he said. “So I want to pitch as much as possible. If you shorten the rest period, you can throw more as the season progresses. I’m looking forward to that. That’s not something that next year will be a complete 180 from what it is this year, but there will be a little less restrictions on me.

And he hopes for fewer losses for the Pirates. Pittsburgh found itself in a wild-card position at the trade deadline before faltering in late summer, thanks in large part to a shaky bullpen and one of the worst offenses in the majors. Skenes is optimistic that better days lie ahead, and the buzz he’s helped create at PNC isn’t just reserved for his days at work.

“Next year we will be better,” he said. “Next year we will win many more matches. So just keep coming.”

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