The Pittsburgh Pirates brought Paul Skenes along slowly. The star rookie pitcher now understands why

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Paul Skenes didn’t love the plan the Pittsburgh Pirates laid out for him in the spring, the one designed to bring the most talented pitching prospect in a generation along slowly and protect the right arm on which so much relies.

Looking back after a dazzling season in which the 22-year-old rookie somehow surpassed even the most outsized expectations — starting the All-Star Game, flirting with the occasional no-hitter, holding his own against the best in the game and making the Pirates matter in a way they haven’t in nearly a decade — Skenes admits the decision to have him begin his first full professional season in Triple-A so he could build his endurance up gradually was the right call.

“I don’t know if there can be a perfect plan, but it was just about perfectly put together,” Skenes said Wednesday.

And the best part? It’s almost over.

While Skenes is looking forward to his final start of the season when the Pirates visit Yankee Stadium this weekend, he’s already thinking about what awaits in 2025, when the training wheels might come off, or at least be loosened considerably.

“Next year, it’s hopefully just going to be ‘Take the ball and pitch,” said Skenes, who is 11-2 with a 1.99 ERA in 22 starts in the majors. “So I’m looking forward to that.”

With good reason. The top overall pick in the 2023 draft arrived in the big leagues in May armed with a fastball that hit triple digits with regularity and a mustachioed swagger that turned his starts into what quickly became known locally as “Skenes Day.”

Though the mustache remains, other parts of Skenes’ approach have evolved. He worked diligently on developing his secondary pitches throughout the year, well aware the fastball/slider combination that served him so well at LSU wouldn’t be good enough to get out the best hitters on the planet.

It’s telling of Skenes’ development that on Sunday in Cincinnati, he mixed in a changeup occasionally, six of which served as strike three on a day he fanned nine batters to boost his season total to 167 in just 131 innings.

“It’s not like we’re just punching X and O and triangle or whatever it is (in a video game),” Skenes said. “It’s like, ‘Well, I have it so I might as well throw it.’”

Something that Pirates manager Derek Shelton called “rare” for a player in such an early stage of his career.

“You don’t see guys that are able to add to their arsenal their first year in the big leagues,” Shelton said. “They’re trying to throw strikes. They’re trying to execute pitches. They’re trying to get hitters out. Not that he wasn’t trying to do all those things, but to do it and add to it at the same time, I think it just shows you how special a player he is.”

Even if Skenes is doing his best to block out the noise or think much about a season that has made him a leading contender for NL Rookie of the Year.

While he wasn’t enthralled with the idea of beginning the season in the minors, Skenes refused to get ahead of himself. Instead, he went out and dominated at Triple-A while patiently waiting for a call he knew would eventually come if he simply went out and did his job.

Shelton could sense Skenes’ disappointment when he didn’t make the opening day roster. It’s one of the reasons Shelton is so optimistic about Skenes’ future.

“I’m in love with the fact that he wasn’t in love with it,” Shelton said. “He wanted to pitch. He wanted more. I think now he realized what our end goal was, and if we would’ve done something sooner, it would’ve been more challenging.”

The plan didn’t end when Skenes was called up. The Pirates have been intentional about giving him an extra day or two between starts, particularly down the stretch with the postseason out of reach following an August swoon.

It’s been a delicate needle to thread, though Skenes has said and done all the right things even though the inner competitor in him would like to get the chance to do his job more often. That opportunity is likely coming next spring.

“That’s why I’m here: I’m here to pitch,” he said “So I want to pitch as much as I can. If you shorten the rest period, you can pitch more as the season goes on. I’m looking forward to that. That’s not something that’s going to be a complete 180 next year from how it is this year, but there are going to be a bit fewer restrictions on me.”

And he hopes, fewer losses for the Pirates. Pittsburgh was in wild-card position at the trade deadline before faltering in the late summer thanks in large part to a shaky bullpen and one of the worst offenses in the majors. Skenes is optimistic better days are ahead, and the buzz he helped create at PNC isn’t just reserved for the days when he goes to work.

“We’re going to be better next year,” he said. “We’re going to win a lot more games next year. So just keep coming.”

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