The majority of Skenes breaking skills did the trick in his warmup, so Skenes was unable to break his own rules. Pittsburgh Pirates rookie stared in at possibly the most dangerous baseball player in the first inning of Wednesday night and was able to get away with any pretense.
Will Graves | Associated Press
06/06/2024
Published June 6, 2024 at 9:50 AM EDT
Paul Skenes wanted to throw Shohei Ohtani something different than an e-fastball.
But, he couldn’t.
Three times Skenes released his 6-foot-6 frame before launching his fastball north at 100 mph in Ohtani.
Three times, it was the Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter struck his signature swing, sliding his right foot to allow the bat to test the outer limits of ballparks with alarming frequency the ability to move.
And Ohtani And Ohtani. Once. Twice. Three times.
Major League Baseball began pitch tracking in the year 2008 when pitch tracking was introduced to MLB. The first game of the inning that was eventually Pittsburgh’s victory of 10-6 was the first time the starting pitcher hit three consecutive strikes with triple-digit numbers, in which the batter hit his bat but failed to hit each time.
“Saw we could hopefully beat him with that (fastball),” Skenes told the media. “Kept going there and it worked.”
It worked at the time, but it was a failure.
When Ohtani came into to the box during the 3rd, with an opponent, Skenes tried to blow it off Ohtani yet again. The ball that hit 100 mph was later lowered to 100 mph when the Japanese superstar took notice and threw Skenes pitch in the Los Angeles bullpen beyond the center field wall, resulting in a two-run shot.
“I like to call that ‘Big on big’ because I obviously beat him a couple times earlier,” the 22-year-old Skenes declared. “I think that was the right pitch to throw there, he’s just a pretty darn good player. Stuff like that is going to happen.”
Particularly when confronting Ohtani.
It was Ohtani’s 15th homer in the entire season. The 29-year-old, two-time AL MVP then added a single to Skenes although he did praise the left-hander’s skills, noting that it’s not Skenes velocity that is notable. It’s the way that all power comes from an elongated delivery which makes the ball appear to shoot out of his hands.
But the Dodgers have made Skenes work.
Jason Heyward turned on a 100 mph fastball before crashing his way off of the Roberto Clemente Wall for a double in the second. Andy Pages turned a slider that took too much of center of the field and into the seats in left field to score a homer in fifth.
Los Angeles and its star-studded lineup continued to come. A mistake and two singles just after Pages’ home base hit stuffed the bases and drew Teoscar Hernadez in the batting position, with an opportunity to tie the game. He instead, struck out hard at third to stop this threat, and Skenes night.
“Good composure,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said about Skenes. “He’s going to give up home runs. But when you have an error and you load the bases, and again, having to grind through this lineup, it’s not easy. There’s All-Stars throughout it. So very impressed with how composed he stayed.”
Skenes was able to record eight strikeouts. He’s now 3-1 with an 3.00 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 27 innings since he was called up in the month of June. The majority of his five games, he appeared like the future star the Pirates imagined when they picked Skenes with the first pick of the draft in 2023.
However, Skenes and the catcher Yasmani Grandal both said the fact that he’s still far from being a final product. This is what makes working with Skenes exciting to the 38-year old Grandal. He’s at the beginning to something which could prove to be quite unique.
Even though Skenes is nothing more than a little bit of average. He was able to use his speed with one of the top lineups in major leagues and found a way to do it. Grandal cannot help but consider what Skenes might have accomplished in the event that the “splinker” — a combination of a splitter and sinker was performing.
“If he would’ve had the offspeed going, I think he would have been able to go six, seven (innings),” Grandal stated. “I wouldn’t have been surprised if he even got eight.”
If asked if he’s ever had the pleasure of seeing Skenes at his most impressive, Grandal shook his head and said “not even close.” This isn’t surprising when you consider that Skenes has been with the majors for less than an entire month.
Pirates Manager Derek Shelton tamped down the idea that Skenes and fellow rookie Jared Jones could receive All-Star attention, noting “I think we’re getting way ahead of ourselves.”
