Perrotto: Could Paul Skenes Be Even Better in Year 2?

BRADENTON, Fla. – Paul Skenes is ready.

The Pittsburgh Pirates ace right-hander is ready for the end of spring training. And he’s ready to begin the regular season, starting Thursday’s opener against the Marlins in Miami.

Skenes made his final start of the Grapefruit League season on Saturday and was sharp in the Pirates’ 4-0 loss to the Baltimore Orioles at LECOM Park. The Pirates’ hitters weren’t quite as sharp as seven Orioles pitchers, including former Pirate Roansy Contreras, combined on a no-hitter.

However, all eyes were on Skenes in his final tune-up before beginning what is expected to be his first full major-league season. The 22-year-old did not make his major-league debut until May 11 last season when he won the National League Rookie of the Year award and finished third in the NL Cy Young Award voting.

Skenes pitched 3.1 scoreless innings, allowing only one hit and one walk while striking out four. He was limited to 51 pitches by design, so he will be fresh for opening day.

“It felt good,” Skenes said. “It felt like a final tune-up. I’m ready to get into real games.”

Pirates manager Derek Shelton was pleased with what he saw.

“I thought it was good,” Shelton said. “I think he was effective. He was in the zone. He was in attack mode, which was good to see. I think at times during the spring, you could tell he was working on things, which is really rare for a (pitcher) who is in his first full spring training.

“But today it looked like, ‘OK, now I’m going to pitch. I’m going to show you my stuff. I’m going to go right after you,’ and I thought he did a really good job. He was extremely efficient. He was in the zone. He was ahead a lot, which is important for his last outing before opening day.”

This could be the most-anticipated season for a pitcher in the Pirates’ 145-year history after Skenes went 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA in 23 starts last year. He also had 170 strikeouts in 133 innings.
The Pirates have never had a truly great pitcher. The franchise record for career wins is just 202 by Wilbur Cooper during a 15-year stretch from 1912-24.

Just two Pirates have ever won the Cy Young Award – Vernon Law in 1960 and Doug Drabek in 1990.

Yet FanDuel has Skenes listed as a +200 favorite to win the award ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies’ Zack Wheeler (+600), Los Angeles Dodgers’ Blake Snell (+1000) and Arizona Diamondbacks’ Corbin Burnes (+1500).

Skenes finished Grapefruit League play with a 2-0 record and 2.50 ERA in five starts. He pitched 18 innings, allowed five runs on 18 hits with 23 strikeouts and nine walks.

While those weren’t on the level of the dominant statistics that Skenes had during his rookie season, the Pirates were happy with what he accomplished in his first full major-league spring training.

“I think we did a good job in the offseason and during spring training of just building the body up,” Skenes said. “I think the biggest thing that I wasn’t anticipating was kind of the challenge of understanding spring training approaches versus during the season.

“More than anything, I think we learned what the next spring training will be like and what to expect there. But it was good to get all the stuff going and feel good. I’m good to go.”

The star players are at their best when the games start counting. Skenes has given every reason to believe he can be just as good this year as he was during his spectacular rookie season.