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Pittsburgh Pirates Rookie Takes Mound with Unreal Spot in Baseball History

As the Pirates take on the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday, Paul Skenes is in some unreal baseball history.

Brady Farkas

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes (30) walks off the field after the second inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium on Sept 16.
Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes (30) walks off the field after the second inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium on Sept 16. / Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
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When Pittsburgh Pirates starter Paul Skenes takes the mound on Sunday against the Cincinnati Reds, he'll do so as part of some incredible baseball history. According to the Pirates, he is the only pitcher in baseball history to have a sub-2.20 ERA and 150-plus strikeouts in his first 21 games.

Skenes, the No. 1 pick in the 2023 MLB Draft out of LSU, debuted back in May and has been one of the best stories in all of baseball this year. He made the All-Star Game, starting for the National League, and will finish in the top-three of the National League Rookie of the Year voting.

He enters this game against Cincinnati with a 10-3 record and a 2.07 ERA. He's got 158 strikeouts in 126.0 innings. He's likely to make this start and one more before heading off to the offseason.

While the Pirates are a disappointing 72-83, the fact that they have Skenes and young flamethrower Jared Jones as building blocks for the starting rotation is very exciting. They should anchor down the pitching staff for years to come and should give the team a chance at contention as early as next year.

Skenes will face another hard-thrower on Sunday, as the Reds will start Hunter Greene fresh off the injured list. The former first-round pick is 9-4 with a 2.83 ERA for Cincinnati.

The Reds are also a disappointing team this season, entering play at 76-80. They haven't made the playoffs since the COVID-shortened 2020 season.

First pitch is 1:10 p.m. ET.

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Brady Farkas

BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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