After comparing Paul Skenes to Jacob deGrom, Pirates legend lauds youngster for continued efforts to hone his craft

Pittsburgh Pirates legend Andrew McCutchen recently compared Paul Skenes to Jacob deGrom and praised the youngster for his continued efforts to get better. The 38-year-old veteran returned to Pittsburgh in 2023 and witnessed Skenes' meteoric rise in the MLB in his rookie season in the majors.

After playing alongside him for more than a year now, McCutchen believes that the Pirates youngster is on the same level as deGrom, with the mentality to get even better.

Jacob deGrom started his MLB career with the New York Mets in 2014 and impressed instantly, winning the NL Rookie of the Year. He has since won two Cy Young awards and is constantly putting up numbers of an elite major league pitcher.

Despite making his major league debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates just last year, Paul Skenes is already following deGrom's footsteps after winning the Rookie of the Year award last season. He is widely considered one of the best pitching talents the league has ever seen, with great things expected of him in the future.

On Friday, Andrew McCutchen spoke with "Baseball Is Dead" podcast host Jared Carrabis and likened Skenes' pitching talent to that of DeGrom. The Pirates legend went on to laud the youngster's mentality, saying:

"I love that a guy that's 23 years old understands that he has plus, plus stuff. He knows that majority of his stuff is not very hittable and he's still trying to get better. And I don't think it's necessarily for whoever he's facing, he's doing it for himself. I think he's trying to push that, of being the best pitcher that he can be for himself." (from 9:25)

"Obviously people know he's good but he's like what can I do for myself to be better. Seeing that he has that at that age is unbelieveable because he's already developing that... It's impressive, and when you're in there facing him it's like, lights out man, I'm out."

It is no surprise that McCutchen is full of praise for Skenes after the youngster recorded one of the best seasons ever by a rookie pitcher in the MLB. Paul Skenes finished his debut season with an 11-3 record, with a 1.96 ERA and 170 strikeouts.

MLB veteran explains what makes Paul Skenes such an elite pitcher

Paul Skenes has already impressed just about everybody who has seen him pitch and one more joined in the chorus yesterday. On Thursday, veteran MLB pitcher Kyle Gibson made an appearance on the Talkin' Baseball podcast and explained why Skenes is such an unhittable pitcher, saying:

"One thing that sets him apart from most guys is not only does he have the pitches that move different than a lot of people, but he has the ability to throw them both sides of the plate."

There is no doubt that Skenes debut season left the whole baseball community impressed. As he enters his second season with the Pittsburgh Pirates, expectations are high and he looks ready to live up to them.