Pittsburgh Pirates' Top Prospect Paul Skenes Dominates Again on Friday Night in Minor Leagues
Pittsburgh Pirates' prospect Paul Skenes, the No. 1 pick in the 2023 Draft, continues to show why he may be up in the big leagues sooner rather than later with another dominant Triple-A performance on Friday night.
Pittsburgh Pirates' top prospect and former No. 1 overall draft pick Paul Skenes continues to show why he may be in the big leagues sooner rather than later, putting together another dominant performance at Triple-A on Friday night.
The top pick from the 2023 Draft out of LSU tossed 3.1 scoreless innings for Triple-A Indianapolis on Friday, striking out eight and allowing just three hits.
That makes 9.1 scoreless innings for Skenes to start the season. He's struck out 19 batters, allowed four hits and has only surrendered two walks.
Routinely able to top 100 mph on his fastball, Sarah Langs of MLB.com had more on the outing from Skenes on social media:
PAUL SKENES
3 1/3 IP
3 H
8 K — including at 100.9 mph & 100.3 mph
55 pitches, 15 at 100.0+ mph
100.3 mph avg 4sm velo
The Pirates are clearly handling him carefully by not having him throw a ton of pitches or a ton of innings, so perhaps they are saving his innings for a major league call-up later in the year. The best pitching prospect the organization has had since Gerrit Cole, he could pair with rookie Jared Jones to make a formiddable Pirates' rotation for years to come.
Skenes is the No. 3 overall prospect in baseball right now, behind Jackson Holliday and Jackson Chourio. Since they are both in the major leagues already, he will ascend to No. 1 when they graduate out of the MLB.com ranking system.
The Pirates are 10-4 and will play the Phillies on Saturday afternoon at 4:05 p.m. ET.
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