SI

Randy Johnson Had Amazing Advice for Phenom Paul Skenes

The Hall of Fame pitcher had wise words for Skenes.

Josh Wilson

Randy Johnson, Arizona Diamondbacks
Randy Johnson, Arizona Diamondbacks / Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
In this story:

Randy Johnson knows a thing or two about hefty expectations thrown at a young phenom pitcher. So he might be the perfect person to give Pittsburgh Pirates rookie Paul Skenes some advice for how to platform what will hopefully be a long and successful career.

Johnson, in his first season in 1988, started four games (3-0) to the tune of a 2.42 ERA in 26.0 innings with 25 strikeouts. Skenes (who is two years younger than Johnson was when he made his MLB debut) went 4-0 in his first four starts with a 2.45 ERA in 22.0 innings with 30 strikeouts. Almost eerily similar beginnings!

Johnson went on to have the kind of career Skenes certainly hopes he can piece together. He won five Cy Young Awards, was a 2001 World Series MVP for the Arizona Diamondbacks, and is now in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

He was honored before a game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday and had a chance to connect with Skenes. He talked about what advice he gave him here:

"Basically just told him that you're a special pitcher. Not many pitchers come around like you every year. You're once every twenty, thirty years. And don't put limitations on yourself and don't let anyone else put limitations on yourself because then if you do, you're never gonna know what kind of pitcher you could have been."

It's fitting advice for a pitcher who has already been pulled out of a no-hit bid after the seventh inning to manage his pitch count and fatigue.

Skenes has now gotten advice from Bob Uecker and Randy Johnson this season on road games. For an impressionable rookie, that has to be valuable.

Published |Modified
Josh Wilson

JOSH WILSON

Josh Wilson is the news director of the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in 2024, he worked for FanSided in a variety of roles, most recently as senior managing editor of the brand’s flagship site. He has also served as a general manager of Sportscasting, the sports arm of a start-up sports media company, where he oversaw the site’s editorial and business strategy. Wilson has a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from SUNY Cortland and a master’s in accountancy from the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois. He loves a good nonfiction book and enjoys learning and practicing Polish. Wilson lives in Chicago but was raised in upstate New York. He spent most of his life in the Northeast and briefly lived in Poland, where he ate an unhealthy amount of pastries for six months.

Home/MLB