In an age of innings limits and baseball teams doing everything they can to protect their young pitchers, Pittsburgh Pirates fans will be happy to hear what their manager, Derek Shelton, had to say about 22-year-old phenom Paul Skenes.

Shelton spoke with Foul Territory on Tuesday where the crew asked him if Skenes could keep up the greatness he showed as a rookie over 30 starts. Skenes made 23 for the Pirates last year, going 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA. He also struck out 170 batters in 133 innings.

“Our hope is yes,” Shelton said. “One of the things that we were really adamant about as a group — and [general manager] Ben [Cherrington] and I especially, was he made that last start in New York.”

Shelton was referring to Skenes' last outing of 2024 in which he pitched two clean innings in New York against the Yankees. He struck out three hitters and didn't give up a hit over 23 pitches.

“I mean it was two innings, you can say what you want,” Shelton continued. “I felt really strongly like he needed to take that mound and prepare for that last start because guys don’t know what the length of the season is.”

Now entering his first full season in the Major Leagues, the reigning National League Rookie of the Year has the confidence of his manager to keep it going for the long haul.

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“To answer that question, I’m going to say yes because of the way he’s built the way he prepares,” Shelton said. “Until you go through a 30-start season or a 32-start season, you don’t know. But he is built to pitch that way.”

Pirates ace Paul Skenes is ramping up for his 2025 debut

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes (30) pitches against the New York Yankees during the first inning at Yankee Stadium.
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Skenes was scheduled to make his 2025 debut on Monday in a Grapefruit League game against the Philadelphia Phillies, but rain washed away the contest. Instead, he threw a 45-pitch live batting practice session to get his work in.

Shelton has not announced when Skenes will take the mound for the first time in a spring training game, but Saturday is the next open date for which the Pirates don't already have a scheduled starter. They'll face the Baltimore Orioles at 1:05 p.m. ET in Sarasota.

Skenes' canceled start came just days after he amped up Pirates fans with a two-word message via Instagram. He shared a series of photos of himself from Pirates camp and captioned it simply, “heating up.” His girlfriend, LSU gymnast and influencer Olivia Dunne, replied, “knew something felt hot in here,” as Pirates fans went bananas in the comments.