Pirates GM Discloses Plan for Paul Skenes
Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes took the baseball world by storm this season, establishing himself as one of the MLB's best hurlers in his rookie campaign.
However, in the modern day landscape, innings limits have become a regular occurrence for young pitchers, so many are wondering if the Pirates will impose any sort of restrictions on Skenes heading into 2025.
Pittsburgh general manager Ben Cherington spoke about that recently, and it doesn't seem like the Pirates will be placing any limitations on their star right-hander.
"I don’t think we go into spring training with any sort of hard limits,” Cherington said, via John Perrotto of Pittsburgh Baseball Now. "I think we always will need to keep assessing over the course of the season just in terms of how guys are holding up and recovery and how the pitch qualities are trending and all that and make real-time decisions inside a decision if we feel guys need a blow or a break."
So, essentially, there won't be any limits on Skenes from the get-go, but that could ultimately change depending on how the regular season progresses.
Classic GM speak there by Cherington, which is entirely understandable.
Skenes made 23 starts and accumulated 133 innings in 2024. During that time, he went 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA, allowing just 94 hits while racking up 170 strikeouts. He posted a minuscule 0.947 WHIP while also recording a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 5.31.
The 22-year-old was selected by the Pirates with the No. 1 overall pick of the 2023 MLB Draft.
It didn't take long for Skenes to make his big-league debut, as he made just seven starts at Triple-A Indianapolis before being called up to the majors in mid-May.
Skenes put together a pair of outings where he didn't allow a hit, going six innings the first time around—his second start of the year—and seven frames in a mid-July affair.
We'll see what the Fullerton, Ca. native has in store for everyone next spring.
