'The book is guys like Judge': Paul Skenes, Aaron Judge similar in ways beyond stature, skill

Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton doesn’t profess to know Aaron Judge beyond a cordial hello.

What he has heard about the New York Yankees slugger, though, makes him think of the superstar in his own dugout who might be on a similar career arc.

“I have many friends on the staff in New York. He compartmentalizes. The thing that I’ve heard about Judge is that the game is the most important thing for him and how he prepares,” Shelton said before the Pirates home opener against the Yankees on Friday afternoon. “I think that’s the same thing in terms of Paul Skenes. Regardless of what’s going on, pitching every fifth day or sixth day is the most important thing for him. He prepares that way. From the little bit I know about Aaron, that would be where the comparison is.”

Few players in MLB history can relate to the swirl of attention Skenes has created so quickly in his career.

Judge is one of them.

First-round pick. A highly anticipated call-up. A home run in his first at-bat. A major-league-record 52 homers in his rookie season. Surpassing Babe Ruth’s record for rookie homers (33) at Yankee Stadium.

Since then, he’s gone on to be a six-time All-Star and a two-time MVP. He’s done all that as one of sport’s most marketable stars in the country’s largest market. So if anyone can appreciate what Skenes is wading into to begin his second season, it’s him.

“There is no book. The book hasn’t been written,” Skenes said of living up to the hype. “The book is guys like Judge. I grew up a fan. I’ve been watching him for a while. Living the life a little bit and seeing how he has handled it makes it a little easier.”

Judge doesn’t pretend to have written that “book” Skenes mentioned. But whatever CliffsNotes may be available, Judge seems to think Skenes has skimmed them over pretty effectively.

“Watching from afar, he’s a guy that puts a lot of high expectations on himself. You can see it in the way he prepares for each game and what he does out there on the field every single day. It’s been a treat to watch,” Judge said Friday at PNC Park before homering during a 9-4 Yankees win. “You’ve got to separate home life from work. You’ve got to separate what you did yesterday from today. It’s all about the present. You live in the present. You work in the present. It took me a couple years to learn that.”

One thing that Judge had coming into the majors that Skenes doesn’t was a lot of All-Star veterans he could lean on for advice when it came to living in that kind of fishbowl. Over Judge’s first two years in MLB, the Yankees had veterans such as Carlos Beltran, Matt Holliday and C.C. Sabathia still on the roster.

Aside from Andrew McCutchen, Skenes hasn’t been around many “been there, done that” veteran All-Stars who have played in big markets and/or been deep into the playoffs.

“I just kind of watched. I watched the guys in front of me, especially when I got to go to big-league camp,” Judge said. “I got a chance to get around a lot of great players and a lot of guys that have played in this market for quite a long time and had success. So it’s really just about watching the guys in front of me, trying to learn from them and take what I can from them.”

Of course, Judge has managed to handle an international spotlight while also navigating through the daily media crunch of playing in New York. Conversely, aside from the days he starts, Skenes is operating in relative obscurity here in Pittsburgh.

Judge’s manager, though, said that hasn’t seemed to impact the 32-year-old outfielder — even when he goes through rough times like he did last year in the playoffs when he hit just .184 in 14 games.

“You never really know if he’s tearing the cover off the ball — which is a lot — or if he’s going through a tough couple weeks. He respects the game and the grind,” Aaron Boone said in the visitors’ dugout Friday. “That’s the life. It’s a game of failure. It’s a tough game, and you’ve got to have that consistency in the work you bring, the attitude you bring, who you are on a daily basis. (Judge) embodies that as well as I’ve ever seen.”

I suppose one could argue that Skenes is under a different kind of pressure than Judge or Shohei Ohtani in Los Angeles. Those guys are on teams boasting the biggest brands in the sport.

Their locker rooms are stuffed with big names and All-Stars. The logos themselves are the faces of the teams. Aside from the aging McCutchen, Skenes’ face is the only one most casual baseball fans really recognize.

For Skenes, he is the story of the Pittsburgh Pirates. He is the attraction for this franchise. Every day. Wherever he goes. Even on days when he isn’t pitching.

“Maybe externally, but not a ton for me as I live my life,” Skenes said of the pressure of being a huge star in a small market. “I’ve never known anywhere else. So I don’t know how different it is from what he goes through in that market.”

Skenes’ teammates see no sign of that onus on his shoulders.

“Putting the team on his back, he carries himself at such a high level,” infielder Nick Gonzales said before the opener. “This is only his second year, but you wouldn’t even know. He’s a pro at everything he does. Any challenge he’s ever been given, he made the best of it.”

Relief pitcher Colin Holderman said that demeanor from Skenes translates onto the field.

“He’s focused on the game and what he’s got to do out there,” Holderman said. “Nothing really distracts him. Nothing really bothers him. I love that about him. I’m glad he’s my teammate.”

And Pirates fans are glad that he is here, for however long that might be.