Paul Skenes brings triple-digit heat, fans to their feet with 7 strikeouts in Pirates debut

Paul Skenes already topped triple digits with his four-seam fastball six times in the first inning against the Chicago Cubs when the Pittsburgh Pirates rookie right-hander brought fans to their feet at PNC Park.

After the 6-foot-6, 260-pounder fired an 0-2 fastball to Cody Bellinger, the crowd was captivated. That it was low and away for a ball mattered not. With a velocity clocked at 101.9 mph, Skenes had just thrown the fastest recorded pitch by a Pirate since such data started being tracked.

This was what 34,924 came to see: a 21-year-old generational talent who went from leading LSU to the College World Series championship to being selected with the No. 1 overall pick of the 2023 MLB Draft to making his major-league debut in a span of 10 months.

Even as baseball’s best pitching prospect brought fans back to a ballpark known more for its view than its victories, Pirates manager Derek Shelton did his best to temper expectations by reminding that Skenes is but a rookie with only a dozen starts on his professional resume who probably was battling butterflies before taking the mound.

“We’re excited to have him here. We’re excited to watch him pitch,” Shelton said, “but also it’s a major-league debut and let’s just let the kid go out and be him and not put anything else on him except for just going out and being a major-league pitcher.”

That was wishful thinking as fans showed up wearing both custom and homemade Pirates jerseys with Skenes’ name and No. 30 on the back.

At the Clubhouse Store in left field, customers skimmed through a rack filled with Skenes jerseys in every color — home whites, black Pittsburgh script and gold City Connect — priced to sell for $199.99.

“I’m expecting him to be an all-timer. I think he’s going to be that good,” said Chad Wickham, 30, a Steubenville native who drove to the game from Columbus, Ohio, and purchased a black Skenes jersey. “If I saw one, I was buying it. I’ve been to a lot of Pirates games, but this is one of the most anticipated debuts ever. The day he was drafted, I told myself I had to be here.”

While Pirates general manager Ben Cherington expressed his wish that Skenes was given a grace period to adjust to the majors and adapt to the clubhouse, he noted that Skenes is “different than others” his age.

Cherington said he was impressed with how Skenes has handled the attention with “poise and respect” that reflects the discipline he learned at the U.S. Air Force Academy and the pressure of pitching at LSU.

“I know it’s a big deal, it’s 1/1 and all that, but the level of interest in him as it’s come into this year and recently is beyond what even I anticipated or expected,” Cherington said. “It’s a new world, and we’re all learning about it at the same time.”

Skenes couldn’t help but notice that fans lined up around the top of the bullpen to watch him warm up, allowing himself a moment to take in the atmosphere before locking into game mode.

“Everybody talks about the stadium. It’s an awesome stadium, awesome skyline,” Skenes said. “The fans are awesome. It was just an awesome day.”

For the fans who came to see Skenes throw gas, he didn’t disappoint.

Of his 33 four-seamers, 17 were clocked at 100 mph or faster, with six topping 101. He didn’t just throw straight heat, either. Skenes mixed his 85 mph slider and 95 mph splinker with an occasional 88 mph changeup and 82 mph curveball in throwing 54 of his 84 pitches for strikes, becoming only the second Pirates pitcher his age to record seven Ks.

The first two batters he faced went down swinging before Bellinger drew an eight-pitch walk, but Skenes recovered to get Christopher Morel to fly out to center to end the frame. The fans got their money’s worth as half of his 18 pitches in the first inning topped triple digits.

Skenes, of course, was far from perfect.

In the second, he loaded the bases by hitting Nico Hoerner with a first-pitch splinker, walking Michael Busch on four pitches and giving up a bloop single to Miles Mastrobuoni. But Skenes got Yan Gomes looking at a called third strike on a 101.2 mph fastball and Mike Tauchman to ground out to second when Nick Gonzales made a sliding snag.

Hoerner hit a first-pitch slider for a home run to the left-field bleachers in the fourth, but Skenes answered by striking out Busch with a slider and Gomes with a splinker.

“I have to get them out quicker, regardless of whether they’re major-league hitters or not,” Skenes said. “I just have to get them out quicker. The bigger thing for me, the way I threw today it probably would have been a bigger pitch count and not as deep into the game in Triple A, also, if that makes sense.”

Without revealing a pitch or innings count, Cherington warned in a pregame news conference that the Pirates would be careful to protect Skenes for the future, just like they have with fellow rookie right-hander Jared Jones.

After back-to-back singles to Tauchman and Seiya Suzuki to start the fifth, Shelton headed to the mound. Skenes handed him the ball and received a standing ovation as he walked off the field, tipping his cap.

“The goal is to put him in a position to help our team win,” Cherington said, “and also in a position to remain active as a pitcher, our hope is, for the rest of the season.”

Although the adrenaline rush from his first start might have affected Skenes’ fastball command, Pirates catcher Yasmani Grandal is more amazed by his composure amid a supercharged atmosphere.

“Seems like a slow heartbeat. That’s pretty much what he looks like,” Grandal said. “I don’t think the moment’s ever too big for him. So, that’s always good. I thought it was a good game for him. But, we’re looking forward to seeing what else he’s got. …

“Not the best I’ve seen him, that’s for sure, but I hold him to high standards. Just the fact that he didn’t have everything there today and was still able to get through it was huge. We’re gonna continue going and I’m assuming he’s gonna have a way better second start.”