After Olivia Dunne's "I taught him" banter, Paul Skenes breaks down new cutter & other pitches in his arsenal

Olivia Dunne, girlfriend of Pittsburgh Pirates star Paul Skenes, recently jested that she was the one who taught the pitcher to throw a cutter, a new pitch that the right-hander has added to his arsenal this spring. Skenes has also incorporated a two-seam fastball into his repertoire.

Earlier this week, Skenes offered a personal breakdown of his pitching arsenal in an interview with MLB Network. The Pittsburgh Pirates phenom had introduced the cutter in his first spring training start of the year last Saturday.

"I taught him that," his girlfriend Olivia Dunne had declared at the time.

(Image Source: Instagram/@LivvyDune)

On Friday evening, MLB Network shared an Instagram post that featured Paul Skenes speaking about his pitches to former All-Star outfielder Chris Young.

"That's my four-seamer. In New York that day, it was running a lot. That one's got a lot more shape than usual," Skenes said. "Changeup; started throwing it a lot more at the end of the year. Last year, I got some pretty good results off it."

"It's a grip change, obviously," he explained the difference between his changeup and splitter. "Velo is probably about a five- or six-mph difference. The changeup has actually got a little less depth."

"Just two different shapes," Skenes said about the variations between his slider and curveball. "There are guys that see spin better vertically and see spin better horizontally."

"It's just a different look, kind of the same thing," he added on the cutter, his new pitch. "Like I said, certain guys spin types better. So, just playing around with it and see where it goes."

Skenes was selected as the No. 1 overall pick of the 2023 MLB Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates. He had received a $9.2 million signing bonus from the Pirates, a record sum for a rookie.

He reminds me of deGrom: Pirates slugger Andrew McCuthcen on Paul Skenes

Paul Skenes was named the 2024 NL Rookie of the Year (Image Source: IMAGN)

Veteran Pittsburgh Pirates slugger Andrew McCutchen showered lofty praise on his teammate Paul Skenes during an interview with MLB Network on Friday. The 2013 National League MVP compared the pitching style of the 22-year-old Pirates phenom to two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom.

"He reminds me of (Jacob) deGrom," McCutchen said. "He reminds me of a guy who has really good stuff and can locate it very well. And he doesn’t just focus solely on his velocity—he's also trying to pitch. So it's great to see that in a guy who's only 23 years old. It's unbelievable. Sometimes you have to take a step back and be like, 'Man, he's only 23.'"

Paul Skenes posted an 11-3 record last year with a 1.96 ERA and 170 strikeouts. He was voted the 2024 NL Rookie of the Year at the end of the campaign and also finished in third spot for the NL Cy Young Award.