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Paul Skenes Dominates the Minors Again, Doing Best to Force Major League Call-Up

The Pittsburgh Pirates have said they don't want to rush top prospect Paul Skenes to the Majors, but how long can they really keep him down for?
Brady Farkas|
Mar 3, 2024; North Port, Florida, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes (30) throws a pitch in
Mar 3, 2024; North Port, Florida, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes (30) throws a pitch in | Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports

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Pittsburgh Pirates

Baseball's top pitching prospect, Paul Skenes, dominated at the minor league level again on Thursday for Triple-A Indianapolis.

The former No. 1 overall pick in the draft is doing his best to force a promotion to the majors, even though the Pittsburgh Pirates say they don't want to rush his development.

Per Sarah Langs of MLB.com on his Thursday start:

PAUL SKENES

3 1/3 IP
1 H
8 K — including at 102.1 mph, 101.3 mph, 100.3 mph, 100.1 mph & 100.1 mph

65 pitches, 34 at 100.0+ mph
100.5 mph avg 4sm velo

Thus far, Skenes is sporting a 0.00 ERA through four starts this year. In 12.2 innings, he's punched out a whopping 27 batters and has just a 0.71 WHIP.

As far as potentially calling him up to Pittsburgh goes, there's a few things at play:

1) The Pirates say they don't want to rush his development or skip the steps with him. That's all fine - and makes sense - but Triple-A also isn't really representing a challenge for him, so what exactly is there left for him to do there?

2) Perhaps the thing that's left to do is to expand his pitch count and prove he can go deeper into games. The Pirates are being very careful with his workload, so perhaps they will let him expand to 75-80 pitches eventually and 5-6 innings. This would give him a chance to work a full 2-3 times through a lineup, something which is valuable at the big league level.

Perhaps the Pirates have been saving his pitches and innings for a promotion later in the season? If so, that time may be coming sooner than we thought.

Skenes was taken No. 1 in the draft last year out of LSU. He won a national championship with the Tigers as well.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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