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Paul Skenes, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, was finally called up to the majors by the Pittsburgh Pirates earlier this month, and since then, he has already shown his potential on the mound. Skenes has started three games so far in his MLB career, including a six-inning outing against the Chicago Cubs in which he did not surrender a hit and struck out 11 batters.
Skenes, if his arm can hold up with his incredible velocity, can likely be a truly great pitcher for the Pirates, and that's a big part of the reason the pitching prospect has all but given up on even practicing hitting. Skenes explained on the Baseball Tonight Podcast that he has avoided batting practice in an attempt to prevent injuries.
“I don’t hit anymore, at all,” Skenes said. “I did a little bit in the off-season, to kind of keep the athleticism a little bit, but I’m not doing that right now. Again, like fouling a ball off my ankle or something like that, especially after not hitting for a while — I feel like there's a very high possibility that something like that happens. So definitely during the season, I don’t touch a bat. In the off-season, I’ll probably hit.
This is a big departure from how Skenes' college career began; in his two seasons at Air Force as a freshman and sophomore, Skenes batted .367 and hit 24 home runs and 81 RBIs in 100 games. When Skenes transferred to LSU before his junior season, he continued to hit in the offseason but eventually found himself as a full-time pitcher for the Tigers.
“I hit through the fall at LSU and I hit into the winter a little bit,” Skenes said. “And in our exit meetings after the fall, the head coach, Jay Johnson, was like, ‘Yo, if we’re going to win a National Championship, it's with you starting every Friday. We want you to hit, but we need you to pitch. That’s the priority.' It was funny because at some point in the winter, they stopped putting me in BP (batting practice) groups and so I kind of saw the writing on the wall a little bit.”
Paul Skenes a budding star for Pirates
While Paul Skenes admitted he would prefer to play every day in the field, it is best for his body and performance now that he has completely committed himself to pitching. It has also proved to be an incredibly successful decision to this point as well.
Skenes achieved his goal of winning the College World Series with LSU as his dominant lone season at Baton Rouge helped lift the Tigers to their first national title in 14 years and put the spotlight directly on Skenes. The mustached hurler broke the school and conference record for strikeouts in a single season in 2023 as he recorded a 13-2 record, 1.69 ERA, and 209 Ks as a junior.
Following his dominant season, Skenes was selected first overall by the Pirates, who signed him to a contract that included a record-setting $9.2 million signing bonus. He spent the entire 2023 season in the minor leagues and used sparingly after shouldering a heavy burden at LSU. The Pirates finally called Skenes up earlier this month after Skenes had obliterated AAA competition with a 0.99 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 27.1 innings pitched.
So far with Pittsburgh, Skenes is 1-0 in three starts with a 2.25 ERA and 21 strikeouts.
