Don’t underestimate Paul Skenes in the National League Rookie of the Year race just yet.
The Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander pitched six scoreless innings in a 7-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday. Skenes struck out nine batters and allowed two hits, throwing 87 pitches. That lowered his ERA to 2.16, which would lead MLB, but he didn’t throw enough innings to be considered.
Despite perhaps inflated expectations, the Pirates right-hander hasn’t been very dominant since the All-Star break. In five starts, Skenes has a 3.13 ERA with 32 strikeouts in 31 1/3 innings, to go along with 11 walks, 23 hits and 12 runs (11 earned). That’s still impressive, but compared to his 6-0 record, 1.90 ERA and 89 strikeouts in 66 1/3 innings, the numbers aren’t quite as stellar.
That allowed San Diego Padres outfielder Jackson Merrill to overtake Skenes as the frontrunner for the National League’s top rookie honors, in many people’s minds. Merrill, the Padres’ first-round pick in the 2021 draft, has a .291 batting average and .813 OPS with 21 doubles, 18 homers, 71 RBIs and 13 stolen bases, making for a strong case.
With 131 1/3 innings pitched between the majors and minors this season, Skenes has surpassed the 122 2/3 innings he pitched last year for LSU. That has raised concerns about his workload and the possibility the Pirates will soon sideline him for the season.
Manager Derek Shelton told reporters Heading into Thursday’s game, there are no immediate plans to stop his ace. However, his innings and pitches thrown per game will be closely monitored. That’s likely why Skenes was pulled after throwing 87 pitches against the Reds.
The most likely approach will be to continue to give Skenes longer rest between starts, extending it to five days, perhaps even six.
“He’s not going to pitch with regular rest for the rest of the year. I can almost guarantee you that,” Shelton said, via Andrew Destin of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette“I can’t really say definitively, but I can say there’s a 95 percent chance he won’t pitch on a normal four-day rest.”
Why not just stop Skenes then? Shelton and the Pirates think he’s important to the rookie pitch for a full major league seasonsomething he will have to do regularly.
“You have to learn how to get through a major league season,” Shelton said. via Alex Stumpf of MLB.com. “It’s really important and most players are capable of doing it. You look at a majority, if not 95 percent of major league players, not just major league pitchers who do it, they have at least one season in the minor leagues, if not two seasons.
“What he’s doing is something very different, very special. It’s something we have to be very aware of as well. He’ll learn how to throw on August 22. He’ll learn how to throw in September, all those things.”
If the Pirates give Skenes five or six days of rest, his next start should come Tuesday or Wednesday against the Chicago Cubs. Or if Shelton wanted to give the rookie some extra rest, he could wait until after Pittsburgh’s off day next Thursday and start him…
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