Perrotto: Paul Skenes’ Best Attribute Isn’t Physical

The expectations have been enormous since the Pittsburgh Pirates drafted Paul Skenes.

Skenes became the most-hyped pitching prospect in franchise history when the Pirates chose him first overall in last year’s amateur draft. Many talent evaluators believed Skenes was ready to move directly from College World Series champion LSU’s rotation to the Pirates’ major-league roster.

The expectations dwarfed the other three pitchers drafted 1-1 by the Pirates — Kris Benson, Bryan Bullington and Gerrit Cole.

Yet Skenes lived up to the hype after making his major-league debut on May 11. He was so dominant that he won the Jackie Robinson National League Rookie of the Year Award on Monday night and is one of three finalists for the NL Cy Young Award that will be announced on Wednesday.

Skenes had an 11-3 record with a 1.96 ERA in 23 starts while striking out 170 batters in 133 innings, holding opponents to a .198 batting average and registering a 0.95 WHIP. The 22-year-old ranked first among qualified NL rookies in ERA, batting average against and WHIP, tied for second in wins, and was second in strikeouts and winning percentage (.786).

Furthermore, Skenes started for the NL in the All-Star Game and became the first rookie pitcher to make at least 23 starts and post a sub-2.00 ERA since Scott Perry with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1918.

It was impressive to see how Skenes dealt with the expectations. Not only did he block out potential distractions, but he was oblivious to everything outside his world.

“Really, I tried to stay away from what people are saying,” Skenes said. “I don’t have social media or anything like that. So, to be honest, I really didn’t know what the expectations were for myself other than what I had for myself and what the organization communicated to me. On that end, I think I did a good job.

“That’s going to be the goal going forward in my career is really just kind of drowning out as much of the noise as I can and sticking to the process and going out and executing. Whatever that looks like stats-wise, who knows. I do believe stats are going to take care of themselves when you do things right for a long period of time. That was the focus this year and that’s going to be the focus going forward too.”

Skenes’ ability to stay focused resonated with his bosses and teammates.

Perhaps it should have been expected from someone who spent two years living the disciplined lifestyle of a cadet at the United States Air Force Academy before transferring to LSU. Still, it showed extraordinary discipline to stay off X and other social media platforms, especially since his gymnast girlfriend Livvy Dunne is famous for being an Instagram and TikTok influencer.

“On top of having a dominant first season, he handled the spotlight that came with it extraordinarily well,” Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said. “He is constantly searching for ways to continue to get better, learns very fast, and wants nothing more than to win. He is a big part of the future of the Pirates, and we’re excited for what’s to come from him and our team.”

There is no need to worry about Skenes potentially losing any focus now that he has Rookie of the Year on his resume. When I asked Skenes how he planned to celebrate the award on Monday night, he said “Going to sleep early and getting back to work tomorrow.”

That is why Skenes has been as good as advertised.