Pirates' Paul Skenes Making First Spring Training Start
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For the first time in 2025, it's Paul Skenes day for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Skenes will make his first start of spring training against the Baltimore Orioles at 1:05 p.m. ET on Saturday at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Fla.
Skenes was due to make his first start earlier this week against the Philadelphia Phillies, but inclement weather caused the game to be postponed.
Game Day#SpringTraining2025@Pirates take on the @Orioles
— Pittsburgh Pirates Player Development Report (@PGHplayerDev) March 1, 2025
⚾️Paul Skenes
📍Sarasota, FL
⌚️1:05 PM
📺 @SNPittsburgh pic.twitter.com/IyU8RUGd6X
What Skenes does for an encore after a historic rookie season is among the top storylines entering the 2025 season. Despite not making his first start until May 11, Skenes still ran away with the 2024 National League Rookie of the Year Award and finished third in the NL Cy Young vote.
Had Skenes begun the season in the big leagues, he would've had a much better shot at winning the Cy Young and becoming just the second rookie to win both awards, joining Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Fernando Valenzuela in 1981.
If Skenes were to win the NL Cy Young award, he'd be the first Pirates pitcher to accomplish the feat since Doug Drabek in 1990.
Skenes entered the 2024 season as one of the most hyped pitching prospects in baseball history and blew the lofty expectations that were placed upon him out of the water. He went 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA in 23 starts while setting a Pirates franchise record for a rookie with 170 strikeouts over 133 innings.
He was also the first pitcher in MLB history to have an ERA below 2.20 and over 150 strikeouts in their first 21 games and the second pitcher since 1913 to have an ERA below 2.00 through their first 22 appearances.
Skenes was also the first rookie pitcher to start an All-Star game since Los Angeles Dodgers right-handed pitcher Hideo Nomo in 1995.
