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The Pittsburgh Pirates' promising prospect, Paul Skenes, is all set to make his major league debut this week. The team is calling up their No. 1 rookie to start against the Chicago Cubs on Saturday.
Skenes briefly appeared for the Pirates during this year’s spring training season. He played in two games, had a single start, and earned a run in three innings. Soon after, he was optioned to Triple-A, where he played for Indianapolis.
He has a stunning 0.99 ERA in seven starts, pitching for 27.1 innings in the minors. During that time, Skenes developed a new pitch called ‘Splinker' as a surprise gift for his competitors in the majors.
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Keith Law of The Athletic has gone into deep detail in his recent article about Skenes’ newly developed pitch, which could be his key to success in the big league.
According to Law, Splinker is a mix of two of the most effective pitches: splitter and sinker. However, it has a completely different effect on the hitters than either of them. The pitch appears like a fastball when it leaves the hand, but when it approaches the catcher's mitt, it slows by five mph and sinks 13 inches more than a four-seamer.
The Triple-A hitters have struggled against Skenes' "splinkers." Whereas batters missed nearly 30% of his four-seamer, with splinker, they got beaten almost 33% of the time.
Not to mention, Skenes has a lethal four-seamer that can touch up to 102 mph, along with a slider, curveball, splitter, and change-ups, with which he can dominate the game.
However, the 22-year-old starter has to be careful as the gap between majors and minors is huge, which was personally experienced by one of his rivals, Jackson Holliday. Holliday debuted for the Baltimore Orioles last month. However, he struggled badly, forcing the O’s to option him back to the minors.
Skenes seems to be in perfect form to make his debut. Also, he’ll have to avoid injuries to live up to his reputation as 2023’s no 1 overall draft pick.
Pirates don’t want to hold on to their promising prospect despite the injury crisis in the league
Amid the injury crisis among the pitchers in the league, the Pittsburgh Pirates made a bold decision to call-up their top prospect, Paul Skenes, to start against the Cubs in the big league.
Ben Cherington, the Pirates' general manager, shared that they don't want to hinder the development progress of Skenes, despite the injury possibility.
"I don't claim that we have any sort of scientific master formula for how we're doing this," said Cherington, via ESPN. "I don't know for sure that this plan is right. I can't say that."
Entering Thursday, the Pirates have a 17-21 record in NL Central, following the Chicago Cubs (22-16) and Milwaukee Brewers (21-15). After losing their series to the Los Angeles Angels, they will try to get a win against the Cubs at PNC Park before Skenes' joining.
