The Pittsburgh Pirates have had a promising first half of the MLB season and the franchise has new life due to the emergence of a couple of incredible young starting pitchers Jared Jones and Paul Skenes.
Skenes is 6-0 and will be starting in the All-Star game next week, but one analyst recently said that even though Skenes has been so incredible, the team recently robbed baseball of a great moment.
Skenes threw seven hitless innings on July 11th before the team removed him from the game at 99 pitches, and Mad Dog Sports Radio host Lance Medow said that “Unless a player is injured, he should be able to see a no-hitter come to completion.”
“Unless a player is injured, he should be able to see a no-hitter come to completion.”@LanceMedow says that the Pirates robbed baseball of a great moment.
Anytime something like this happens, it ignites the same debate of whether or not a pitcher should finish a no-hitter.
It’s easy to see both sides of the story, but Skenes is too valuable to be put in any sort of danger of getting hurt.
The Pirates obviously have a plan with Skenes and have been strict about not letting him go far past 100-105 pitches, often removing him from games after throwing between 90-95 pitches.
Everyone wants to see a no-hitter, but fans need to look no further than Tim Lincecum and Johan Santana as examples of why the Pirates made the proper decision.
Santana threw 134 pitches during his 2012 no-hitter before struggling to an 8.27 ERA in the ten starts afterward and hitting the IL with back inflammation, ultimately leading to another shoulder surgery that sapped him of the ability that made him the best pitcher in baseball.
Tim Lincecum threw a 148-pitch no-hitter in 2013 and had a 4.74 ERA the following year before burning out and being out of the league in 2016.
The Pirates did the right thing.
