Paul Skenes, Must See TV

Sports Extra 13.0

Paul Skenes, generational super star. Billionaire in the making. Mold the Hall of Fame Plaque. Barring a damaging injury, he’s enroute to an iconic career.

Fate brought him this far. Will it carry him through?

Skenes was selected No. 1 in the 2023 MLB draft. It was a stroke of luck that the Pittsburgh Pirates got the chance to draft him, but it was not a foregone conclusion that he would be the first pick.

For the first time in history, a lottery decided the teams to get the first six picks. The Pirates drew the long straw and had a decision to make. MLB.com listed Dylan Crews, Skene’s teammate at LSU, as the top prospect in the draft and projected the Pirates would take him first.

He was a pure hitter at LSU, leading the Tigers to the College World Series championship. He hit .426 with 18 homers, 70 RBIs, and 100 runs scored. The Pirates had a pretty deep line of prospect pitchers already and they certainly needed a big stick.

But, the Pirates made a great choice in Skenes. In his rookie year he won 11 games, lost just two, was the National League’s starting pitcher for the All Star Game and he won the NL Rookie of the Year in 2024.

Skenes beat Washington National Crews, who was picked second, to the majors and became the pitcher who went from the No. 1 draft pick to starting on Opening Day in the fastest time in MLB history. After his first 25 MLB starts, he has a .192 ERA. He’s the first pitcher with 175+ (184) strikeouts and a sub-2.00 ERA in his first 25 starts in MLB history.

Skenes has performed at the highest level in his first two starts this season.

Crews, on the other hand, is struggling. He hit just .219 in his first MLB season. He went to spring training this year with a lot of promise in his pocket. He hit .273 in the Grapefruit League.

But he went 0-for-15 at the plate in his first games this year with the Nationals, causing some observers to question whether he’s really ready for the bigs. Nobody is questioning Skenes’ abilities.

Skenes signed for $9.2 million with the Pirates and is earning $875,000 a year with the small market team. He is under Pirates’ control through the 2029 season.

Then, he’s projected to get offers of upwards of $44 million a year. That would be in line with Yankee Garrett Cole’s long-term deal with the Yankees, if the dollars are adjusted for inflation.

As a rookie, Skenes sported a neatly trimmed mustache that fans and teammates cloned. He surprised everyone by showing up to spring training with a full beard, also neatly trimmed.

Skenes played two years at the Air Force Academy before transferring to LSU for one season.

He was a two-time All America selection.

Reports are that Skenes loved the acadamy, but left after two years because if he accepted a third year at the academy, he would have been required to do an active duty stint. That would have affected his plans to ascend to the major leagues. His friends said he loved the military discipline.

In a story at Military.com, Skenes was quoted about his struggle through basic training.

“You get (one) phone call during basic; you are away fro your family as an 18-year-old. You’re forced to figure out life really (quickly) and figure out how to make new friendships and self-leadership, all that, discipline. Those 37 days, I never want to do that again, but it’s 100% shaped who I am today.”

When he pitches for the Pirates, it’s must see TV for any baseball fan.

He’s thrown a pitch at 102 mph. In his first major league game he threw 17 pitches over 100 mph. But he has a repertoire of a handful of pitches that sends the ball on different trajectories and at different speeds.

In his victory on Wednesday, over the Tampa Bay Rays, he threw 102 pitches, 70 percent of them were strikes. He didn’t walk a batter in his seven innings of work.

It’s great to see a young man with such talent, and such self discipline, plying his trade with such efficiency and grace.

Bednar Has Crashed

David Bednar has gone from being a two-time All Star closer for the Pittsburgh Pirates to being demoted to Triple A.

He was taken out of the Pirates’ closer roll late last season as his ERA ballooned and his blown saves piled up.

In three attempts in the Pirates’ opening series against Miami, he blew two saves and was tagged with the loses.

When the Pirates wanted to bring up one of its top pitching prospects, Bednar had to forfeit his spot on the 40-man roster.

With the anaemic hitting the Pirates have started 2025 with, it can’t afford to let the low-scoring games get away via the bull pen, especially as a result of ineffective closures.

Bednar is a local Pittsburgh guy and has been a fan favorite. It will be interesting to see if he can regain his closing dominance at Indianapolis and get back to the majors. Maybe some other team will give him a change of scenery.

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