STUMP STORY OF THE DAY
Stumpdate: Paul Skenes
A couple of months ago we talked about Pirates Rookie ace Paul Skenes, here’s a look back at that as well as his newest accomplishments.
Recalling out May 12th Story…
Paul Skenes, the 2023 MLB #1 pick, has officially made his MLB debut yesterday. The first two batters he face? Strikeouts. BIGGGG whiffs on his electric fastball. Skenes averaged 100.1mph on every fastball thrown, he threw 17 total pitches above 100mph, including 6 of those at 101mph or faster. He now holds the fastest average fastball by a pitcher in the MLB this season. Ladies and gentleman, we have a new fastball king!
Skenes debut was the most anticipated debut by a pitcher since probably Stephen Strasburg in 2010. Which happened to be against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Weirdly off symmetry, Andrew McCutchen was the leadoff hitter for the Pirates on both days.
In total, Skenes pitched 4 innings, allowed 3 runs, 6 hits, and 7 strikeouts. He battled through adversity and got out of some jams. The Pirates allowed him to extend his pitch count and work through things with runners on base. Skenes was impressive, he looked calm, cool, and collected.
Skenes was the workhorse for the LSU team that won a National Championship in 2023. He was a transfer from Air Force and was one of the most dominant pitchers in the SEC and across college baseball. Skenes will now look to continue his MLB career as the Pirates look to keep building their roster.
He also has one hell of a mustache.
Stumpdate:
Skenes continues to look like a pitcher who has already won multiple Cy Young awards. Twice in his young career he has been pulled from no-hit showings. One after 6 innings and one more recently after 7. This one was a little controversial as fans were saying ‘let the guy finish the game.’
This past week, he was named the NL All-Star Game Starting pitcher! An All-Star game is an All-Star game, this is the equivalent to if Victor Wembanyama was starting for the West this past season! It just doesn’t happen!
If you looked at every pitcher who has less than a 2.00 ERA and has struck out 85 batters in their first 11 starts, the list would be a short one. It would consist only of Paul Skenes.
Now if you got rid of ERA and just talked 85 strikeouts, the list would be 8 names. Paul Skenes is doing things at a historic pace.
I don’t know about you but I can not wait for the All-Star game
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