As a 22-year-old rookie and having appeared in just 10 games for the Pittsburgh Pirates at the time of his National League All-Star selection, Paul Skenes has pitched his way into becoming the most watched MLB player in 2024. The numbers that tally up his success working from the mound are dazzling.
Well, Skenes isn’t a reliever. This is perhaps the only role he hasn’t added to his resume this season. All of his appearances have come as a starter in Pirates’ skipper Derek Shelton’s rotation. And, like clockwork, the budding phenom takes control of his games. The first six weeks of the MLB season, the Pirates dispatched Skenes to their Triple-A affiliate of the International League—the Indianapolis Indians. During his home debut pitching at Victory Field against the Memphis Redbirds, the Indians’ hurler reached 100 mph or more in 13 of 44 pitches thrown. From day one in the minors, Skenes was rapidly becoming one of the game’s premier starting pitchers—as was expected.
