'Everybody will get an extra day': With Paul Skenes, Pirates switch to 6-man starting rotation

Before the Pittsburgh Pirates promoted Paul Skenes, general manager Ben Cherington said they considered giving the 2023 No. 1 overall draft pick one more start at Triple-A Indianapolis.

Instead, the Pirates came to the conclusion that Skenes was ready to help them win games in the major leagues — even though he had only pitched once on four days of rest as a professional.

So, the Pirates decided to switch to a six-man rotation with an eye toward protecting the pitch count and innings limits for rookie right-handers Skenes, Jared Jones and Quinn Priester so that they can complete a full season.

“Big picture, we’re tracking volume and work volume for every pitcher on the team, no matter who they are,” Cherington said before Skenes’ debut Saturday at PNC Park. “The number of pitches a pitcher throws is a thing, no matter who they are in terms of effectiveness and recovery and what a particular pitcher is able to do today, tomorrow, etc. So, that’s not specific to Paul Skenes or any particular pitcher.

“In Paul’s case, it gets more attention because of what we’ve gone through the last few weeks and this buildup that happened after spring, and because of who he is. I understand that’s going to get more attention. But the truth is, we look at it for every pitcher and it’s a part of the decision-making in terms of again, trying to win a game and also what happens after the game and getting them ready for the next start.”

Where the six-man rotation is meant to be beneficial to the rookies, it could be disruptive to the between-starts routines for veterans Mitch Keller and Martin Perez. They are the only two Pirates pitchers to start twice on the traditional four days of rest so far this season, as five scheduled off days through the team’s first 41 games provided natural breaks.

After completing a nine-game, 10-day homestand, the Pirates play three games at the Milwaukee Brewers followed by four at the Chicago Cubs. Keller, Priester and Perez are scheduled to pitch on six days of rest, with Jones, Skenes and Bailey Falter set to start on five.

“Everybody will get an extra day on this turn,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “Once we get past the off-day and the Chicago series, I think we’ll kinda re-evaluate where we’re at because we do have off days after that.”

After the seven-game road trip, the Pirates are off Monday, have a six-game homestand against the San Francisco Giants and Atlanta Braves, then sandwich two games at the Detroit Tigers between days off May 27 and 30 before heading to Toronto for a weekend series followed by another day off June 3.

Where the Pirates have four days off in June and six in July — including a four-day break during All-Star week — the schedule is less forgiving late in the season, with four days off in August and only two in September. Last year, the Pirates had to grind through the final two months with only two healthy traditional starters in Keller and Johan Oviedo, who required Tommy John surgery in the offseason.

That could be the impetus for the decision to use a six-man rotation now, so as to preserve the starting pitching for a potential late-season playoff push instead of being forced to shut down Jones and Skenes.

Keller proved that the additional down time could be helpful when, pitching on five days of rest, he threw his second career complete game in a 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels on May 6.

The 33-year-old Perez, a left-hander in his 13th major-league season, is conflicted about the six-man rotation. As much as he appreciates how an extra day of rest could help the rookie pitchers, Perez prefers the routine of making a start once every five days.

“I need to find a way how to get in a rhythm, just figure it out and try to be ready for my day,” Perez said. “I’m here to pitch. I’m not here to go 75 or 80 pitches. They’re young. I’m not young. I need to throw. I need to get innings. That’s my job. That’s why they bring me here. I’m ready to go 100 pitches every time. I’ve been around for so many years. I know how to be ready for that, how to recover and how my body is going to react.”

The Pirates caused a stir April 16, when they restricted Jones to five innings despite throwing 50 of his 59 pitches for strikes and holding New York Mets scoreless. Shelton said the move was predetermined, with the Pirates taking a precautionary measure because Jones was pitching on four days of rest for the first time in the majors.

For Jones, the six-man rotation is business as usual. Teams have Mondays off in the minor leagues, so the rookies don’t have to make major adjustments. Jones had career highs of 96 pitches over seven innings against Colorado on May 4, and he leads the Pirates with five quality starts (six innings, three runs or fewer) this season.

“There’s no change to the routine. You just get an extra spa day after the start day,” Jones said, with a smile. “It’s not pitching so often on the six-man rotation. I’m sure over the course of a month that’s going to take away a start maybe. It’s just going out there less and preserving innings.”

Skenes is receiving similar kid-gloves treatment. His buildup was methodical in the minors, increasing his pitch count from 44 to 75 over six starts at Triple-A Indianapolis. Skenes was pulled after throwing 84 pitches in four-plus innings in his debut Saturday, and he said afterward he was looking to return to a regular schedule.

“I’m big on routines, so the last week has been tough,” Skenes said, “but the bottom line is, you have to go out there and pitch. It’ll be nice to be on that routine again.”

Falter had his most recent start pushed back two days because of a scheduled day off Friday and the insertion of Skenes into the rotation Saturday. So the 27-year-old lefty, who has 39 career starts over four seasons, did “dry work” between starts by throwing seven to 10 pitches off the mound just “to feel it a little bit.”

“Love the extra day of rest,” Falter said. “You’ve got to adapt in this game or you’re not going to be here for very long, so it doesn’t really bother me at all. … It’s just the routine I’ve got to figure out a little bit, if we’re going to go from six-man to five-man. It doesn’t matter to me, (pitching every) five, six or seven days. I’ve got a job to do, so whenever they call my name I’m going to go out there and give it all I can.”