Launcher Paul Skenes had an exceptional first season for the Pirates of PittsburghWinning the honors of the recruit of the national league of the year with an MPM of 1.96, 170 sticks to the stick in 133 rounds and a file of 11-3 in 23 departures.
However, while he begins to prepare for his second season, the right -hander knows that he must rely on what he has already established to continue his success in the Major League Baseball. Oppying strikers can get different looks of Skenes, as he indicated to journalists from the Pirates spring training camp in Bradenton, Florida.
“I worked on stuff during the offseason, sharpened on certain things from last year,” said Skenes, via mlb.com. “I have the impression that we are really in a good place.”
This “thing” includes two new locations for its arsenal: a cutter and a quick ball with two runners with a surface action a bit like a lead.
“Really, just trying to create more swing decisions”, ” Skenes explained. “This is what it comes down to.”
The cutter and the lead would be added to the three locations that Skenes presented during his recruited season: a quick four -seam ball which regularly touched 100 mph, a cursor and a “Splinker” which served as his pitch.
“With the cutter in itself, he had his cursor and tried to throw him in two different ways,” said the launch coach of the Oscar Marin pirates told Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
“So, he has a sweeper, he has a cursor, it was just a field to be able to constantly get a shape with and be able to be suffocated to be more effective,” he added. “With lead, it’s just something he wanted to play and see where it goes.”
The teammate Adam Frazier faced Skenes on Saturday and did not even swing in The Splinker, a land he said “No one is going to do anything with“And I would hit it in the ground if a contact was established.
Adam Frazier to take BP live against Paul Skenes: “I did not have to do so. I wanted to somehow. … Enter there and see what it looks like. He faces one of the first weapons of the game. This is what you want, not just in practice but in games. He will bring out the best of everyone. »» pic.twitter.com/9kbpxaephm
– Kevin Gorman (@KevingORMANPGH) February 15, 2025
Skenes also wants to launch longer in ball games and intends to pass sleeves more effectively to get there.
“Go ahead, win the 0-0, 0-1, 1-1, win these counts, this kind of thing is important,” he said.
Last season, Pirates manager Derek Shelton regularly shot Skenes after 100 throws, Even when he had not given any blows. But it was a standard practice for a recruit that launched 34 rounds before being called to the majors and launched 122 2/3 innings in LSU the previous year. He will probably not have 200 rounds this season, but 150 to 175 seems reasonable for the AS of Pittsburgh.
