SARASOTA, Fla. -- “I think it’s called the … splinker? I don’t know if we’re going with that.”
Uh, the who what?
No way was I letting Henry Davis get away with a term like that.
Half-splitter, half-sinker?
“Yeah,” the big boy beamed back. “It’ll be on Pitching Ninja soon enough.”
Well, I’m not waiting till analyst Rob Friedman, architect of the awesome @PitchingNinja account on X, gets hold of it. No chance. I want to see this thing … like, yesterday.
Meaning when Paul Skenes made his spring debut for the Pirates in their Grapefruit League game against the Orioles at old Ed Smith Stadium, in which he’d put forth a three-up, three-down, 10-pitch, six-strike inning that’d include, according to Skenes, anyway, “my full mix.”
Just not according to Davis, who accurately tracked catching the four-seam fastball, twice at 102 mph, plus the changeup, curve and slider. But, as both would acknowledge, the mix really will be a full five pitches once the … 'splinker' finds a home in a game to be named later.
And if anything should excite followers of this franchise more than triple-digit heat from a No. 1 overall pick cutting down all three of the Orioles’ studs he’d face -- Jackson Holliday, Adley Rutschman, Heston Kjerstad -- it really ought to be that he sounds genuinely unsatisfied with the elite arsenal he’s already blessed to have.
Speaking of his velocity after this appearance, Skenes characteristically downplayed it, pretty much likening it to a cheat code he’d rather ignore in the interest of becoming that much more complete: “I mean, it's a tool. I don't know what I was today. I didn't check once. I can get it on the postgame report. And frankly, the moment it stops being there, hopefully 15 years from now, then we'll probably have to adjust the game plan a fair amount.”
He laughed at that.
“But yeah, the big thing is moving well, doing the right stuff in the weight room and that kind of thing between starts. The biggest thing, I think, is holding it for a long time, to be able to throw it where I want. So, that happened today. I was happy with that."
Holding it for a long time?
This was Davis on the ‘holding’ concept, after I’d asked what it’s like to catch 102 mph: “It’s more difficult with his because he does a really good job of changing his holds, so it’s not just the stuff but he’s really pitching. It’s not just a guy that’s in the same set, one Mississippi, pitch. It changes every time, so it’s just being early, which is more challenging with runners on base, but if it’s challenging for me, then it’s challenging for hitters.”
Back to Skenes on his pitch mix: "But yeah, it's nice that hitters are on time for the fastball more often now, more toward what I'm anticipating.”
Meaning, starkly, that his heat overwhelmed college hitters to such an extreme that it functioned, in effect, as that cheat code. It was too easy to get outs and, because of that, he didn’t need to keep expanding as a pitcher.
“So, it’s good to be able to go out there and pitch rather than just blow it by guys,” he’d continue. “Like I said, the velocity's a tool. It's not the biggest thing I want to rely on. But pitching’s fun. I mean, blowing it by guys is fun. It gets old. Pitching and the art of it, I really love that."
Wait, what gets old?
Oh, my.
Bring on the ‘splinker,’ my dude. May the pitching gods have mercy on those who get … splunked?
• This was the full Skenes scene:
“I mean, he’s throwing 102. It’s pretty fast,” -- Jackson Holliday@Pirates’ Paul Skenes reached triple digits four times in a perfect Spring Training debut: https://t.co/RUpfqiCoCP pic.twitter.com/xzEAvpC57P
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) March 1, 2024
• An American League scout watching this one from the seats texted me afterward, regarding Skenes, “I think the sinker will really help him, as well." There are no secrets from scouts.
• On the surface, Skenes can come across as dry. I’ve already learned on this trip that isn’t the case. One just needs to make him laugh a little, see him loosen up, then listen to him carefully so as not to miss a gem like this yesterday on the subject of gearing up for this game: "I mean, it's a game. My goal is to not change what I'm doing from this outing, in terms of preparation, to the frickin' Game 7 of the World Series, whenever that is. It’s a game. Game-planned and did all that, got ready to compete. If anything, it's probably calming myself down."
• And this, too, on the subject of the buildup down here for this event and the capacity crowd of 4,592: "It was nice. That's how it goes as you get into games. It's how it's going to be all season. Hopefully after it, too.”
• Winners never think they’ll lose. This kid oozes that.
• Speaking of which, in the home clubhouse, Holliday wasn’t about to concede anything to his successor as the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, saying of Skenes’ fastball: “It’s really firm, huh? I mean, he’s throwing 102. It’s pretty fast. … But it’s a matter of time before at-bats start getting to the point where I like. Still a little bit not where I like to be. So, I think, maybe midseason form, I like my chances in that at-bat.”
• I’ve heard here that Ben Cherington continues to place inquiries regarding adding a starting pitcher. Not one name’s been mentioned, regrettably, so I don’t have that to share.
• Nothing regarding right field, which apparently will be divided between Edward Olivares and Josh Palacios.
• Best bullpen in the bigs? Not even the world’s most cynical cynic could reject it outright, with David Bednar and a reborn Aroldis Chapman, plus Colin Holderman and Carmen Mlodzinski at the back. But that won’t be the calling card, Bednar told me: “It’s the arm angles. We’ve got the ball coming at you from all over the place, left, right, up, down, three-quarters … everywhere.” So, I asked back, best bullpen in the bigs? “We’ll see,” he’d reply with a smile. “I hope so.”
• Nothing new on the Bednar extension front.
• Oneil Cruz grabbed his side after a baserunning sequence yesterday, which might’ve led to speculation that he’d hurt his oblique. Nothing of the kind, he assured me afterward. And, more telling, he stayed in the game, which never would happen in Grapefruit ball if there were even the most minuscule injury.
• Generally speaking, any differences with Cruz aren’t easy to detect. In this game alone, he singled sharply to right, then stole second and eventually scored, then singled to left with a deft downward reach, and, throughout, seemed smooth at short. If there’s any concern, as he’d confess, it’s that he’ll push too hard too soon. Which is where Ke’Bryan Hayes comes in. “Ke’ tells me to be smart, be patient,” Cruz told me. “I’m trying.”
• What a wonderful — and hilarious — at-bat Rowdy Tellez put together to walk just before Davis’ home run yesterday: With a 1-1 count, home-plate ump Chad Fairchild, in midseason form, called a strike on a pitch several inches outside. (Press box is right behind the box, and it couldn’t have been clearer.) To which Tellez turned toward Fairchild with an extended tilt of his head. To which, out on the mound, Corbin Burnes, apparently amused, proceeded to throw the next three pitches to precisely the same location in search of further generosity from Fairchild. All three were balls. Oh, and that second strike, as I’d confirm later with Tellez? “Ball.” Pittsburgh’s going to like this dude.
• Kent Tekulve days till Miami.
• Thanks for reading my baseball stuff from down here. And thanks especially to whoever in one of the fan suites was shouting my name and saying nice things about our company as I was sprinting to the clubhouse to get Skenes. Sorry I couldn’t stop, but that was still very cool.
• Always room for audiophiles:
