Pittsburgh Pirates rookie starting pitcher Paul Skenes has taken the baseball world by storm, in part due to his ‘splinker' pitch, and he explained how he perfected that pitch during a recent appearance on MLB Network.

“Yeah, so started throwing it when I got to LSU out of the transfer portal it was one of the projects was to throw a sinker,” Paul Skenes said on MLB Network. “And I found a grip, kind of a split-finger, you know pseudo-split-finger grip from one of my friends and I was trying to throw it off my middle finger at the time, and it was fine, didn't throw it a whole lot in game. It was fine in college, like whatever. The draft came, and got shut down basically after the College World Series and started throwing again, ramping up to throwing games after the draft and I was playing catch one day, and it basically accidentally came off my index finger and moved how it moves now, and I was basically like, ‘well that was good,' so I'm gonna keep trying to do that and it stuck.”

It is crazy that Skenes developed this pitch after he was selected No. 1 in the 2023 MLB Draft. He was far and away the best prospect in that draft, and he has lived up to the hype, making an immediate impression with the Pirates, and starting the All-Star Game for the National League this season, a historic feat. He is one of the favorites for the rookie of the year as well alongside Jackson Merrill of the San Diego Padres.

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Paul Skenes hopes to lead Pirates back to playoffs

The Pirates were competitive in the first half of this season, but have fallen off over the second half of the season. It has not been the fault of the pitching staff, as the Pirates' weak lineup has caught up to them this season and ultimately has them out of the playoff picture. A few nice additions on offense could have Pittsburgh in the playoffs in the near future, as the starting rotation is a strong one.

Regardless, Skenes is going to be at the top of the rotation, and possibly be a Cy Young contender in 2025 and beyond. The only question will be health, as it is with any starting pitcher.

It will be an interesting offseason for the Pirates, a team that usually does not spend a lot, but now would be the time to make some additions.