NEW YORK - Paul Skenes has been out of his home in PNC Park under a gray blanket in the Pittsburgh sky for 366 days, making his major league debut.
That afternoon, in front of the crowded crowd, the highly anticipated phenomenon was not crisp. Perhaps too big, Skynis struggled with his fastball command, coughing three games in four innings against the Chicago Cubs. But the performance is a glimpse, and it's the reason a franchise comes to dream of a better future. If the Pirates can somehow be reminiscent of enough offensive talent to assemble around Skenes, a sunny day can be achieved whether through their own farm system or through free agency. So it feels like the new Pirates baseball day.
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In the year since, Skenes insisted on the end of the bargaining. He is still only 22 years old and he is already one of the best starting pitchers in the game. In 31 games since its debut, the 2023 No. 1 No.1 overall draft hit 216 batsmen in 183 2/3 innings, while releasing a 2.06 ERA, the lowest MLB in that span. He started the 2024 All-Star Game, won the NL Rookie of the Year, and finished third in the NL Cy Young vote.
Given his age, his trail, his 4.5 years of team control and the possibility that he can get better while continuing to adapt to major league games, Skenes can easily be the most valuable starting pitcher in the sport.
On Monday against the Mets, Skynis’ orders were waxing and lightened, but the moose-sized man pitched big when needed. By the time he went to Pittsburgh to go to the bullpen, Skynis had surrendered to six good frameworks.
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Not surprisingly, the pirates are still lost. It marks the fourth of nine Skenes this season, with Pittsburgh losing a game, with its star shooting allowing two or fewer runs.
When asked whether the lack of running support would change the pitcher’s approach, new captain Don Kelly provided an optimistic view.
"You know, I think the challenge of baseball is to stay inside of yourself, not put pressure on yourself in the situation," he said. "And I want our pitchers not to do that, they stay inside of themselves, attacking the batsmen in any way at any time."
Although Skenes and other pirate pitchers can try to separate churches and states, it is much easier in thinking than practice, especially when the end result is often another drawback in the loss column. Because this Pirates ranks last in scoring, this is a fistless and unstoppable fruit shell. Apart from the current injury and offensive flawed Oneil Cruz, the offense does not have the talent of a superstar. There are a handful of "beautiful works" in Pittsburgh's post performers' group, but good works won't win contests, divisions or championships. The difference did so, at Citi Field on Monday, and the difference was not wearing black and gold except Skenes.
The Pirates are now 14-28, third in baseball. On May 12, they were already 10.5 games in the playoff spot, and last week, Buccos fired Derek Shelton, the manager who has led the club since 2020. Encouraging, encouraging rotation, with more talent along the way, suffered a catastrophic attack. Pittsburgh is a lineup that is halfway in a roster, one foot in the present and one foot in the future. Meanwhile, the chasm opens below them.
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In all the failures, an unsettling question has surfaced, made headlines (including this), raised feed, and made good beer by beer: Should the Pirates trade Paul Skenes?
The argument for trading Skenes is as follows.
1. If there is not enough offensive influence on the current lineup, you can expect the 2025 Buccaneers to roar back into the playoff photos...
2. ... And there aren't any paradigm-shifting offensive prospects headed to PNC Park in the next handful of seasons … (Termarr Johnson, the fourth overall pick in 2022, is tracking like a solid every-day player but was left off a number of Top 100 prospect lists. Pittsburgh's most promising youngster is a 19-year-old outfielder named Konnor Griffin, whose MLB ETA is 2028 or 2029) …
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3.
4. Then, it is unrealistic to hope that the pirates of the Skenes era are something waiting to happen.
If the idea comes to mind, the Pirates should follow the Nationals vs. Juan Soto: Swap Skenes from Skenes into six or seven prospects squadrons and hope that the group will grow to the next core. Given the volatile diversity of pitchers, Skenes may never be worth more than they are now. While the iron is hot, hit better than waiting for other shoes to fall off.
While this may be convincing, all the chats about Pittsburgh dealing with Skenes are chats. Early in his career, putting the team’s ace trade would be an exciting move that could further alienate a generation of Pirates fans. The Naths were able to exchange Soto in part, partly because of the golden shadow cast by their 2019 World Series champion. Obviously, Pittsburgh does not have such hooks to hang a hat.
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Additionally, Skenes is a money-making man, a big draw. He put his butt in his seat, sold his jerseys and attracted the attention. It's the ears of team boss Bob Nutting, who has earned a reputation throughout the industry, it's a kind of scrooge. Yes, the Pirates finally canceled another No. 1 pick Gerrit Cole before he arrived at Pittsburgh for five years before he arrived at free agency. For GM, it was too early for Ben Cherington to even consider doing the same with Skenes.
Most importantly, the club's most likely future scramble remains led by Skenes, pitching and defending the club running enough. Between the current major leagues Skenes, Mitch Keller, Jared Jones and Bailey Falter and Prospects Bubba Chandler, Thomas Harrington, Braxton Ashcraft and Hunter Barco, there are enough weapons to dream.
So while the other 29 fan bases may view Pittsburgh conflict as their own potential gains, the idea is unfounded, or at least premature at this juncture. Skenes may not end up being a lifelong pirate, but he is a pirate for the foreseeable future.
At the same time, all he can do is continue to ignore the noise and his own attack.