Paul Skenes "grinded through it," Derek Shelton suggested, and he couldn't have been more correct.
Yeah, he'd still spin up a 12th quality start out of 16 total, he'd still limit the opponent to two runs off a single swing over six innings, he'd still strike out six, he'd still show his share of sizzle ...
Paul Skenes tonight:
— Platinum Ke’Bryan (@PlatinumKey13) August 17, 2024
6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 6 SO, 1 HR
93 pitches, 56 strikes, 10 whiffs
He has an ERA of 2.30 this season. Phenom. pic.twitter.com/czDQAUD2G3
... and for the icing, he'd earn the W for a team that hadn't touched any such thing in two weeks, with the Pirates finally folding up their 10-game losing streak at the expense of the Mariners, 5-3, on this Friday night at PNC Park.
Not bad.
Not good enough for his liking, though. And he tends to be quick to point out such stuff.
Of not once achieving 100 mph with his fastball for a fourth consecutive start -- max was 99.7, and his game average was 97.9 -- he'd say, "Call it what you will. This is my first time pitching in August. I don’t pay too much attention to that. I more so pay attention to whether I’m able to hold my velo over the course of an outing. The 100s are sexy, but executing whatever velo is the big thing. It is what it is. Just have to keep competing.”
Of his trademark splinker, he'd say, "It wasn’t like I had no idea where it was going ... but I was just missing.”
Even of his consistent curve, to which he and Yasmani Grandal turned for an unusually high 20 of his 93 pitches, he'd say, "To be honest, it's just what we had to lean on today."
Some of that's, to borrow his own phrase, just Skenes being honest. With himself. He did walk four. He did miss dead-red with 97.1 on the four-seamer when Luke Raley took him 412 feet to clear the Clemente Wall ...
Luke Raley, letting it eat ... He works into a 3-1 count then demolishes a 97.1 mph fastball from Paul Skenes into the right-field seats.
— Daniel Kramer (@DKramer_) August 16, 2024
Exit velo: 112.5 mph
Launch angle: 23°
Distance: 412 ft.
Hang time: 4.7 seconds pic.twitter.com/7ON8UoiUvP
... and this after one of those walks.
"We haven't seen that out of him," Shelton would say of the walks. "He didn't look like he was in sync with his delivery throughout the entire game and was still able to give us a good start and give us a chance to win and he got the win. Overall, it's impressive."
After a pause, Shelton proceeded, "You know, I think all of us get enamored with how good he is. And then, he has a start where his delivery's not in sync and he walks and everybody thinks, you know, it's Armageddon. He's a major-league pitcher that's dealing with things, and we saw a major-league pitcher deal with something today and still give us a chance to win. Which I give him credit for."
Yep. Me, too. Emphatically.
In fact, I'll take it further: I couldn't be more convinced that it'll make him that much stronger in 2025, which, of course, will now represent the next games of any consequence for this franchise. I believe that, because of this start and, say, his past four, in which he's been fine but also more on the mortal side -- 23 1/3 innings, nine earned runs, 19 hits, 24 strikeouts, 11 walks -- he can seize upon the experience to accelerate past whatever ceiling anyone might already be setting for him.
Remember our talk in Sarasota?
This was back in March, when he was making a mockery of hitters one inning at a time and, even though he didn't need to do anything beyond rearing back for triple-digit heat, he'd still try to apply his full arsenal. And when I asked why, he pretty much likened his fastball to a cheat code that he didn't want to use all the time in saying of his velocity that day, "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.”
That. That's what I'm citing for maybe the millionth time since I first heard it. And with cause: Because there he was at 22 years old, with a "tool" that's almost automatic in its effectiveness, with the baseball world at his beck and call ... and he's thinking a decade and a half out.
My friends, that's a kid aiming for ... well, exactly what everyone now expects, right?
So, I asked him on this night, in the spirit of that Sarasota conversation, if maybe a night like this, frustrating in the moment because his fastball and other facets weren't there, might not be for the greater good since he was able to sharpen and trust, for example, that curveball.
Watch his reaction:
"Yeah. For sure," he'd reply without hesitation. "Obviously, yeah, it is frustrating in the moment. But hopefully, the idea's to grow from these outings. It's definitely nice that we were able to escape with only two runs. But having to grind through it definitely teaches me about myself and how to use my stuff and that kinda thing."
Those are big, big shoes, man. They really are.
No, I'm not just talking about shrugging off being the one to stop the Pirates' profuse bleeding on this night, to which he'd say when I brought that up, he'd initially reply, "Yeah, it feels good," before letting out a little laugh and adding, "It definitely doesn't feel good that we had the streak in the first place. But it's nice to do it at home, nice to get it out of the way. Now, hopefully, we can put it behind us."
And I'm not even talking about those splashy custom cleats he sported on the mound on Major League Baseball's 'Players Weekend,' crafted to call attention to his preferred charity, the Gary Sinise Foundation that describes its mission as “serving our nation by honoring our defenders, veterans, first responders, their families, and those in need.” Inspired by his time at the Air Force Academy, Skenes hopes to raise $100,000 this year because, as he put it, "The people that I met and everything I’ve gained from there is just unbelievable. Obviously, I’m not there anymore, but I'm just trying to find ways to give back to a community that has done so much for me.”
Wonderful.
And yet, the shoes I'm referencing are the figurative ones into which, if he has his way, I'm betting he'll never be fully satisfied with the fit.
JUSTIN BERL / GETTY
Paul Skenes, with Oscar Marin behind him, walks from the bullpen to the dugout before the game Friday night at PNC Park.
• Lots, lots more in our Pirates Feed, both on the game and the injuries to Oneil Cruz and Andrew McCutchen.
• I'll be covering Steelers-Bills a few hundred feet away Saturday night, José Negron will have this series' matinee middle match right here, and I'll be back for the Sunday finale.
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