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'Bored' Paul Skenes Occupied Himself Pregame by Observing Pirates' Groundskeepers

Skenes joined the Pirates' grounds crew before tossing five shutout innings Tuesday.

Tim Capurso

Even ace pitchers need to keep themselves occupied before baseball games.
Even ace pitchers need to keep themselves occupied before baseball games. / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
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Even Paul Skenes, whose lengthy pregame routine leaves no stone unturned en route to making the Pittsburgh Pirates ace prepared, gets bored before baseball games sometimes. And what does Skenes do when he gets bored? Become a Pirates groundskeeper, of course.

Before tossing five shutout innings against the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday at PNC Park, Skenes was on the field, closely observing the finer arts of groundskeeping while chatting up the Pirates' grounds crew, according to Noah Hiles of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

But this was more than just a way for Skenes to pass the time.

According to Hiles, Skenes would "love to cut grass professionally" when his already-decorated pitching career is done. The days of the 23-year-old Pirates righthander, who currently leads the National League in ERA, trading in his glove for a mower would seem to be far in the future.

But if Skenes gets his wish, you could one day find him mowing lawns after he's finished mowing down big-league hitters.

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Tim Capurso
TIM CAPURSO

Tim Capurso is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in November 2023, he wrote for RotoBaller and ClutchPoints, where he was the lead editor for MLB, college football and NFL coverage. A lifelong Yankees and Giants fan, Capurso grew up just outside New York City and now lives near Philadelphia. When he's not writing, he enjoys reading, exercising and spending time with his family, including his three-legged cat Willow, who, unfortunately, is an Eagles fan.

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