Twins prospect gets rare hit off pitching phenom Paul Skenes

Twins prospect Yunior Severino did something Thursday night only three other batters in Triple-A have been able to do... get a hit off pitching phenom Paul Skenes.

Playing for the St. Paul Saints, Severino arrived at the plate at the top of the 2nd with Skenes – drafted No. 1 last year by the Pittsburgh Pirates and who is currently pitching for Triple-A Indianapolis – having retired all four Saints batters prior on strikeouts.

The 21-year-old phenom delivered a 101.5-mph fastball over the center on a plate on a 2-2 count that Severino laced into deep center field for a double.

#3 overall prospect in baseball, @Paul_Skenes against the guy who tied for the Minor League home run lead in '23 in Yunior Severino. Advantage: Severino. Came in at 101.5, left the bat at 113.1 for a 2B. Severino is just the 4th Triple-A player to get a hit off Skenes this year pic.twitter.com/sfVA0Fw2OK
— St. Paul Saints (@StPaulSaints) April 18, 2024

It was just the fifth hit Skenes has allowed this season, and the 10th total hit he has allowed since being drafted by the Pirates.

The other Triple-A hitters to record a hit off Skenes this season are Tigers prospect Justyn-Henry Mally, Cardinals prospect Luke Baker and former Twins prospect Akil Baddoo, who got two hits off Skenes in their March 12 outing.

Severino tied the minor league mark for home runs in 2023 with 35. So far he has two in 16 games played this season. The 24-year-old infielder is the No. 23 prospect in the Twins organization.

Skenes finished the game with eight strikeouts and zero runs allowed in 3.1 innings of work. The Saints scored four runs in the ninth inning but ultimately fell short in their comeback attempt, losing 6-5.