Paul

Skenes

Skenes made one final abbreviated outing to finish the season, tossing two clean innings while striking out three batters on 23 pitches -- 17 for strikes. The 22-year-old right-handed phenom ends his debut season with an outstanding 1.96 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, and a 170/32 K/BB ratio across 133 innings. Skenes should be in consideration for the first starting pitcher off drafts boards in 2025.

Sensational. Skenes gave up just two hits on the contest — none of them for extra bases — and he didn’t walk anyone. The 22-year-old has beaten the loftiest of expectations, and the five scoreless frames lowers his ERA to 1.99 on the 2024 campaign. The 2023 first-overall pick gets one more chance to impress in New York on Saturday.

Skenes was excellent again. His offense was not, as they couldn’t solve Andre Pallante for even a single run of support. The right-hander has not allowed more than two runs in a start since August 10, and he takes his first loss since that start against the Dodgers. This is a loaded NL rookie class, and Skenes has been as good — if not better than — all of them.

Skenes gave up six hits, walked one and struck out nine. The win is his 10th of the season and fourth in his last five starts. Skenes has allowed two runs or less in each of his last five starts. He has a 2.10 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 151 strikeouts in 120 innings this year. The only thing that can stop Skenes this year is a potential innings limit in the final weeks of the season. The 22-year-old right-hander is set to face the Royals at home this weekend.

Skenes allowed just four hits and struck out six, but he did issue four free passes. The right-hander has not allowed a run in two of his last three starts, and it’s helped lower his ERA to a remarkable 2.13 in his rookie campaign. Skenes had unbelievably high expectations when entering the league. He’s not only met them, he’s beaten them. Considerably.

The unearned run was his own fault, since he didn’t back up home plate on Oneil Cruz’s throw that eluded Yasmani Grandal in the second. That allowed a runner to advance from second to third, and the runner came around to score on a groundout. On the mound, Skenes wasn’t quite as stellar as usual, but he was fine in striking out six in an 82-pitch outing. He’ll likely face the Cubs again next week.

Skenes gave up two hits, walked one and struck out nine. The win was his eighth of the season. He’s allowed three runs or less in 16 of 17 starts this year and struck out at least eight batters in 10 of his last 14 starts. Full speed ahead for Skenes unless the Pirates decide to curb his innings or shut him down late in the season. He has a 2.16 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and 130 strikeouts in 104 innings this year. The 22-year-old rookie right-hander is set to face the Cubs at home next week.

“There has never been any immediate plans to shut him down,” Shelton added. “How we monitor that, whether it’s an innings limit or a workload limit per game, we’ll be thoughtful about that.” It certainly sounds like the Pirates are going to wind up implementing some sensible workload restrictions down the home stretch for Skenes, especially if they’re eliminated from playoff contention, which was reported earlier this week by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. It’s a welcome development for fantasy purposes as it doesn’t appear Pittsburgh has any plans to hold him back at the moment. The 22-year-old rookie sensation, who has struggled a bit in recent outings, will take the ball on Thursday night against the Reds.

Rosenthal makes the comparison that “The Chicago White Sox are taking just that approach with left-hander Garrett Crochet, who is working as a starter for the first time in his professional career.” Considering Crochet was just pulled after four innings this weekend despite striking out nine batters, Skenes having his workload managed like Crochet would be a huge hit to his fantasy value. As of now, this is allegedly just something the Pirates are considering, so it’s not a given; however, Rosenthal also points out that if Skenes were to finish first or second in the NL Rookie of the Year voting, he would enter free agency a year earlier, so the Pirates would have some incentive to limit his innings to keep him healthy and also ensure they get an extra year of team control for the young right-hander. This situation is fluid right now, and you’re still starting Skenes if you have him, but keep an eye on reports coming out of Pittsburgh.

The reality is that Skenes was not at his best today and he was still really good. He had a sub-50 percent zone rate on his sinker and struggled to command the curve at times. In the fourth inning, a walk to Jorge Polanco came back to bite Skenes after he fell behind Luke Raley 3-1 and then allowed a two-run homer. Skenes had a solid 23 percent whiff rate but just a 24 percent CSW and was able to work around not having his best stuff. He’ll now take a 2.30 ERA into a matchup at home against Cincinnati next week.