Paul Skenes has taken MLB by storm since being called up by the Pittsburgh Pirates just a few weeks ago, and the phenom is already 4-0 with a 2.29 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 39.1 innings of work.
His peers are quickly taking notice and the universal opinion shared by one MLB superstar is that Skenes is legitimate and this is not just a flash in the pan.
On a recent episode of his podcast, On Base, Mookie Betts said that the hype surrounding Skenes is real, noting that he faced Skenes already and was impressed, saying “he’s sitting 100 to 102, they call it a splinker, I saw it all. It’s hard, man.”
Betts noted that Skenes struck him out twice and discussed how common it is to see pitchers in college throwing over 95mph so consistently, which wasn’t the case just a few years ago.
The Pirates have won six of Skenes’ seven starts so far, with the one loss coming due to a disastrous bullpen meltdown.
Skenes’ start against the Dodgers a few weeks ago was not his best, as he gave up three runs in five innings while surrendering homers to Shohei Ohtani and Andy Pages, though his team did win 10-6.
Skenes will make his next start on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays as he looks to add to his Rookie of the Year campaign that suddenly just got a little stronger with Yoshinobu Yamamoto hitting the injured list and Shota Imanaga giving up 10 runs to the New York Mets yesterday.
