Paul Skenes Double-A debut: Pirates' No.1 overall pick pulled before the end of first inning after poor outing

There was a lot of buzz around Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes making his Double-A debut for the Altoona Curve on Saturday. However, this didn't pan out as well as the 21-year would have hoped for as he didn't even manage to last for one inning in his debut.

Although Skenes generated considerable heat from the mound, his lack of control on the fastball didn't help his cause. He allowed two walks in his 33 pitches with four earned runs and three hits. However, he did not return empty-handed and managed two strikeouts before getting pulled out in the first inning.

Despite a turbulent start to his Double-A career, Skenes maintained a positive outlook and accepted his shortcomings on what was supposed to be his big day. Paul Skenes told The Athletic after his debut:

“Adversity is honestly what I would call it. A bad outing is a bad outing, it’s just baseball. Obviously, I want to go out there and win and pitch as best as I can… but the beautiful thing is that it's never as bad as it seems and it’s never as good as it seems."

Paul Skenes admits there is room for improvement after slugging Double-A debut

The player was assigned to Single-A affiliate Bradenton after earning a record $9.2 million bonus with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was promoted to the Double-A after two outings for the Bradenton Marauders.

The 21-year-old caught the eye of the baseball fraternity after his record-breaking sting with the LSU Tigers earlier this year. His 164 strikeouts in Division I were the most by any pitcher this year, breaking the SEC and LSU records for most strikeouts in a season.

He helped the LSU Tigers to the 2023 College World Series College and was named the World Series Most Outstanding Player for his incredible output from the mound.

While his first Double-A outing ended prematurely, the Pirates' number one MLB draft pick reflected on his failure and is adamant about rectifying his shortcomings before his next outing.

“Looking at the outing today, it wasn’t the best stuff and it wasn’t the best execution, but they hit three balls through the infield over 90 miles per hour, and nine times out of 10 I feel like those are outs. Obviously two walks are a killer… but I’ve got a chance to go out there and work on stuff for the next five days and compete again in six days.”