Fastball

Pittsburgh Pirates Ace Paul Skenes is Back on a Mound Getting Ready For 2025

The National League Rookie of the Year took some time off, but now it's time to go.

Brady Farkas

Chicago Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga (left) and Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes (middle) discuss pitching grips as Edwin Stanberry (right) interprets before the Pirates host the Cubs at PNC Park on Aug 27.
Chicago Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga (left) and Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes (middle) discuss pitching grips as Edwin Stanberry (right) interprets before the Pirates host the Cubs at PNC Park on Aug 27. / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
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It's hard to believe that the offseason is nearly three months long already for those teams that didn't make the playoffs. There's only 1.5 months until pitchers and catchers report for spring training and with that in mind, guys from all around the league are starting to crank it up before arriving in Florida and Arizona.

One of them? Pittsburgh Pirates ace and National League Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes, who is back on a mound getting ready.

The @MLB account posted video of Skenes pitching on Saturday afternoon. There's no radar gun readings and Skenes appears to throw nothing but fastballs in this clip.

Skenes finished his rookie season at 11-3 with that 1.96 ERA. He struck out 170 batters in just 133.0 innings and looked every bit the part of an ace moving into 2025. The former No. 1 pick in the draft (2023), Skenes made his major league debut in early May after just a handful of minor league starts With Skenes and Jared Jones, the Pirates and their fans finally look to have some optimism moving forward.

Armed with an upper-90s fastball and his power "splinker," Skenes also earned the start for the National League in the All-Star Game. In addition to winning the National League Rookie of the Year Award, Skenes was also a finalist for the National League Cy Young.

That ultimately went to Chris Sale of the Atlanta Braves.

The Pirates finished last in the National League Central in 2024, with the Brewers winning the division.

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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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