Paul Skenes gives shoutout to Roman Anthony after solid outing in Pirates-Red Sox faceoff

Two of the most exciting talents in the major leagues faced off on Friday, as Paul Skenes' Pittsburgh Pirates took on Roman Anthony and the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park in the series opener.

Anthony enjoyed a great moment against Skenes in the fifth inning as he hit a towering home run to right field to give Boston a 2-0 lead. Per Statcast, the exit velocity off Anthony's bat was measured at 108.6 mph, while the ball traveled 408 feet.

However, Skenes and the Pirates had the last laugh, as they won the game 4-2 after a late flurry.

Skenes was asked about his matchup with Anthony after the game and the Pirates ace had good things to say about the Red Sox rookie.

"He (Roman Anthony) is a good player, obviously, hitting leadoff for one of the best teams in the AL. What is he, 21? Doesn't look like a 21-year-old, so, yeah, he's going to keep this offense running for a long time." Skenes said. (Timestamp 2:18)

Though Anthony's home run meant that Paul Skenes' latest outing wasn't as perfect as other recent appearances, the 23-year-old still recorded a quality start, pitching six innings, giving up the one earned run and striking out six batters.

Roman Anthony could follow in Paul Skenes' footsteps and win the Rookie of the Year award

Bursting onto the scene in 2024, Paul Skenes enjoyed an incredible rookie season. The ace beat Jackson Merrill (San Diego Padres), Jackson Choirio (Milwaukee Brewers) and Shota Imanaga (Chicago Cubs) to win the prestigious NL Rookie of the Year award in November.

MLB: APR 18 Guardians at Pirates - Source: Getty

Roman Anthony, who is batting .314, with 44 hits, six homers, 17 RBIs and 28 runs scored since the All-Star break, continues to make his case for the AL Rookie of the Year award.

According to the bookies, Athletics star Nick Kurtz is the overwhelming favorite to win the award, priced at -20000. However, Anthony has climbed up the ranks and is now the second-favorite, priced at +1400.

About the author

Raghav Mehta is a baseball journalist at Sportskeeda awaiting results for a Bachelor's in Journalism from Delhi University. He enjoys highlighting the key battles between players at different stages of the game and analyzing the decisive moments upon which they hinge.

One of Raghav's favorite moments, which underscores this, was the Shohei Ohtani vs. Mike Trout clash in the 2023 WBC, where two of baseball's best players faced off against each other in the 9th inning. With the score 3-2 to Japan, Shohei eventually got the strikeout, which was absolute cinema.

Raghav is a Baltimore Orioles fan and is enjoying watching such an exciting young team compete at the top in a very competitive division.

Raghav has loved watching sports for as long as he can remember and realized he was pretty decent at writing his thoughts down at around the age of 14. Combining the two meant he had something he would enjoy doing every day, and he had identified that well before going to college.

Aside from work, Raghav enjoys playing sports, working out and watching movies.

Know More

Edited by Chaitanya Prakash