Pirates Pitching Duo Ranked Amongst MLB's Best
PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates have two of the best pitchers in baseball, that will help lead a strong starting rotation.
Andy McCullough, Will Sammon and Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic spoke with a panel of 20, with expertise in scouting, player development and analytics, consisting of executives, scouts and analysts.
They surveyed these people about the 50 best pitchers in baseball and they ranked Pirates' pitchers, Paul Skenes and Jared Jones, at No. 2 and No. 26.
Skenes landed in Tier 2, with players who received a 99.5-90 rating, known as the aces of the MLB. He recevied a 98.5 rating, just short of Detroit left-handed pitcher Tarik Skubal, who earned an 100 rating and the No. 1 ranking.
"In his big-league debut, Skenes looked like the pitcher who was promised," The Athletic wrote. “Hard to be even better than the hype,” one scout said. “But I think he was.” The fastball touched 102 mph. The “splinker” looked obscene. But it wasn’t just the stuff. It was the results. He pitched into the sixth inning in 17 of his 23 outings. He gave up only two runs in his final five starts. He offered a beacon of hope to an otherwise moribund franchise.
"Because Skenes is a pitcher, in an age of heightened anxiety about injury risk, there was a sense of wonder and worry from our panel. How should the Pirates handle him? Can he stay healthy? In this era, it is hard to enjoy a shooting star. We know how fleeting they can be.
“There may be no single player whose own arm health is more important to the health of the sport,” one executive said."
Skenes dominated in the minor leagues and soon made it up to the majors on May 11 of the 2024 season.
He started 23 games, had a 1.96 ERA in 133.0 innings pitched, allowed just 29 earned runs, 94 hits, six home runs and 32 walks, while making 170 strikeouts and holding opposing hitting to a .198 batting average. He also had a 11.50 K/9 and a WHIP of 0.95.
He was also the first member of the Pirates to start for the National League in the All-Star Game since Jerry Reuss did it in 1975, 49 years ago. He is also just the fifth rookie to start an All-Star game, with Hideo Nomo of the Los Angeles Dodgers doing so in 1995, en route to winning NL Rookie of the Year.
Skenes won NL Rookie of the Year, made the All-MLB First Team and finished third in the NL CY Young Award voting.
Jones finished middle of the pack at No. 26 with a 66.5 rating, landing in Tier 4, with the pitchers that are No. 2 or No. 3 in their franchise
"One executive compared Jones, the Robin to a certain Batman who will appear later on this list, to [Spencer] Strider.," The Athletic wrote. "The approach is simple but deadly: Big fastball, heavy slider, lots of whiffs. Jones did not blow away big-league hitters in his debut season, but all the elements are there. “Will he have the durability to reach the No. 1 ceiling?” the executive asked.
Jones finished his first full season at the MLB level with a 6-8 record, 22 starts, 4.14 ERA in 121.2 innings pitched, 39 walks to 132 strikeouts and a 1.19 WHIP.
His final game of the season came in the first game vs. the Yankees on the road, where he pitched 4.1 innings, allowing five hits, two walks, two earned runs and making seven strikeouts on 85 pitches. The Pirates would win 4-2 against the Yankees, thanks to two home runs from Bryan Reynolds.
Jones dealt with a right lat strain, that kept him out from early July to late August from pitching for the Pirates.
He has had high expectations on what he could achieve in 2025, even receiving consideration as adark horse for the National League Cy Young Award.
