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There wasn't much else Paul Skenes could have done in his dominant rookie season for the Pittsburgh Pirates. But the great ones always find new ways to maximize their talent.
Skenes finished the 2023-24 campaign with a 11-3 record, a 1.96 ERA and 170 strikeouts. He is already back at the office looking at what he plans to work on for the upcoming season as the Pirates' No. 1 bullpen asset.
“I think there were a lot of times last year where I just put myself in bad positions a little bit,” Skenes said, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. “After the season was over, I had one of the analysts at LSU run some numbers for me on Skubal, Sale and then me. They pretty much led in just about every category, which shows that is how you pitch at a very high level. That’s how you win those awards, winning the first two out of three pitches, strike percentage, first-pitch strike percentage, stuff like that. Those are the process-oriented goals I’m focusing on this year a little bit more.”
Skenes won the 2024 National League Rookie of the Year, and as he nears 23 years old, he's looking at all of the analytics to continue his promising career.
Paul Skenes' Cy Young strategy for Pirates
The plan is simple. Skenes will start going after hitters right away, rather than holding off for a battle at the plate. After digging into the analytics, Skenes first-pitch strike percentage (62.1) was below competitors like Chris Sale (69.2) and Tarik Skubal (68.5).
“The analysts, I don’t know, sometimes they get in the way. But a lot of times they have really good stuff,” Skenes said. “(The Pirates’ analysts) came to me last year and said, ‘Hey, you should throw your sinker more to lefties with two strikes.’ I was like, ‘Ok, let’s try it.’ And then it worked. Usually, if they’re coming to you with something, they’re probably right. You probably should listen to them usually.”
Skenes will also look to improve his overall strike percentage (66.1), which was also below the aforementioned pitchers.
