Pitcher Paul Skenes had an outstanding first season for the Pittsburgh Pirates, winning National League Rookie of the Year honors with a 1.96 ERA, 170 strikeouts in 133 innings, and an 11-3 record in 23 starts.
However, as he begins to prepare for his second season, the right-hander knows he has to build on what he’s already established to continue his success in Major League Baseball. Opposing hitters may get some different looks from Skenes, as he indicated to reporters at the Pirates’ spring training camp in Bradenton, Florida.
“I worked on some stuff during the offseason, honed in on some stuff from last year,” Skenes said, via MLB.com. “I feel like we’re really in a good spot.”
That “stuff” includes two new pitches for his arsenal: a cutter and two-seam fastball with tailing action much like a sinker.
“Really, just trying to create more swing decisions,” Skenes explained. “That’s what it boils down to.”
The cutter and sinker would be added to the three pitches Skenes featured during his rookie season: a four-seam fastball that routinely touched 100 mph, a slider and a “splinker” that served as his out pitch.
“With the cutter in itself, he’s had his slider and he tried to throw it two different ways,” Pirates pitching coach Oscar Marin told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
“So he has a sweeper, he has a slider, it was just a pitch to be able to consistently get one shape with and be able to be a strikable pitch to be more efficient,” he added. “With the sinker, it’s just something that he wanted to play with and kind of see where it goes from that.”
Teammate Adam Frazier faced Skenes on Saturday and didn’t even swing at the splinker, a pitch he said “nobody is going to do anything with” and would just hit it into the ground if contact was made.
Adam Frazier on taking live BP vs. Paul Skenes: “I didn’t have to. I kind of wanted to. … Get in there and see what it’s like. It’s facing one of the premier arms in the game. That’s what you want, not just in practice but in games. He’s going to bring out the best of everyone.” pic.twitter.com/9kbpxAEPhm
— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) February 15, 2025
Skenes also wants to pitch longer into ballgames and intends to get through innings more efficiently to accomplish that.
“Getting ahead, winning the 0-0, 0-1, 1-1, winning those counts, that stuff is important,” he said.
Last season, Pirates manager Derek Shelton routinely pulled Skenes after 100 pitches, even when he hadn’t allowed any hits. But that was standard practice for a rookie who threw 34 innings before getting called up to the majors and pitched 122 2/3 innings at LSU the previous year. He likely won’t log 200 innings this season, but 150 to 175 seems reasonable for Pittsburgh’s ace.
