Pirates skipper makes strong case for Paul Skenes as franchise cornerstone

The Pittsburgh Pirates have had a rough start to the season, and it has impacted last season's NL Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes' numbers. However, the young flamethrower was at his best in the team's dominant 10-1 win on Wednesday.

The Pirates had Paul Skenes on the mound for the series finale after they rallied back from a 6-0 deficit to win 9-6 on Wednesday to tie the series. Skenes was stellar from the mound, going scoreless in 6.2 innings. It earned his his first win in May.

Skenes' start was backed by the Pirates hitters, who scored eight runs in the first six innings of the series decider to race to an 8-0 lead. Following the win, Pirates skipper Don Kelly lavished praise on his ace by comparing him to future Hall of Famers Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer.

“Paul Skenes, they don't come around ever,” Kelly said. “I think there's a few pitchers like that. When I was younger, I got to play with [Justin] Verlander and [Max] Scherzer, and that's what you see in Paul, that type of guy.

"If he can continue that, continue to develop, continue to grow. He's a pitcher, not a thrower. Just the way he works, everything. He's definitely a guy you want to build around."

Pirates skipper highlights Paul Skenes' consistency despite underwhelming results

Paul Skenes' strong start earned the Pirates a rare series win in May after they fired former manager Derek Shelton. Skenes' start also helped him to a 4-5 record as the hitters backed his strong display from the mound, something that has been lacking for the team this season.

“I think the one thing we see is he doesn't change,” Kelly said. “He continues to do the same thing out there, whether he's not getting the support or like today, he did.”

Despite the series win, the Pirates are bottom of the NL Central with a 21-36 record. With Pittsburgh struggling to keep up with its division rivals, rumors of a trade for Paul Skenes have been picking pace this season.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash