Former All-Star Praises Pirates’ Paul Skenes
In this story:
PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Pirates star pitcher Paul Skenes heads into the 2025 season as one of the best in the MLB, receiving praise from fans to greats alike.
Skenes, who is entering his first full season in the majors, will serve as the Pirates' Opening Day starter when they face the Miami Marlins on the road on March 27.
Dan Plesac of the MLB Network, who was a three-time All-Star with the Milwaukee Brewers from 1987-89 and even pitched for the Pirates, said nothing but great things about Skenes.
He rated Skenes as the No. 3 Opening Day starter and wanted to rank him higher, but wants to see a full body of work this season before he does that.
Plessac also named Skenes the best pitcher to come out of college since Tom Seaver, a Hall of Famer with the New York Mets.
“He’s number three and it’s hard, like I mean, you could look at this and go, “How could he be number three?” I guess the only thing is the body of work and if he puts it together this year," Plessac said.
"I really like Corbin Burnes as my pick for the NL Cy Young, but this guy, he’s the best college pitcher that I’ve seen come out since Tom Seaver came out of USC. He’s came out with all the build up and he’s lived up to the hype.”
Skenes starred at LSU in 2023, after transferring from Air Force. He had a 13-2 record in 19 starts, 1.69 ERA in 122.2 innings pitched, gave up just 23 earned runs and seven earned runs, while making 209 strikeouts to just 20 walks, leading the program to a national title that season.
He would enter the 2023 MLB Draft, where the Pirates took him with the No. 1 overall pick. He also signed with the franchise on a $9.2 million signing bonus, the highest ever given to a player at the time.
Skenes dominated in the minor leagues and soon made it up to the majors on May 11 of the 2024 season.
He started 23 games, had a 1.96 ERA in 133 innings, allowed just 29 earned runs, 94 hits, six home runs and 32 walks, while making 170 strikeouts and holding opposing hitting to a .198 batting average. He also had a 11.50 K/9 and a WHIP of 0.95.
He was the first member of the Pirates to start for the National League in the All-Star Game since Jerry Reuss did it in 1975, 49 years ago. He was also just the fifth rookie to start an All-Star game, with Hideo Nomo of the Los Angeles Dodgers doing so in 1995, en route to winning NL Rookie of the Year.
Skenes won NL Rookie of the Year, made the All-MLB First Team and finished third in the NL CY Young Award voting.
Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.