Pirates’ Paul Skenes extends scoreless streak at Triple-A

INDIANAPOLIS — On Thursday night, Paul Skenes had another start, which meant more triple-digit heat, more strikeouts, more zeroes in the score column…and another relatively abbreviated outing for baseball’s best pitcher .

In his fourth outing of the young season, MLB Pipeline’s No. 3 prospect tied his professional career high with eight punchouts and worked around a hit and two walks in 3 1/3 of innings in Triple-A Indianapolis’ 6-5 victory over St. Paul at Victory Field.

The run extended Skenes’ season-opening scoreless streak to 12 2/3 frames. He’s also tied for the Minor League with 27 strikeouts after this most recent gem. The player he’s linked to (Tacoma’s Jhonathan Diaz) has pitched 24 innings, nearly double Skenes’ total.

“It went well,” the Pittsburgh right-hander said of the first weeks of the campaign. “It’s a little frustrating sometimes, but I mean, take it slow, that’s how it’s done. But it went well.

Skenes averaged 100.5 mph on his fastball and threw over 100 with 34 of his 43 total four-seamers. Since pitch tracking began in 2008, only Hunter Greene has thrown more triple-digit fastballs in a single Major League outing — a feat the Reds right-hander has achieved six times. The 2023 No. 1 overall pick reached 102.1 on a third-down strike against veteran Tony Kemp (who was making his organizational debut with the Twins) in the second inning. This particular throw was Triple-A’s fastest as measured by Statcast so far this season.

It wasn’t just the heating that made Skenes efficient on Thursday. Of the 11 whiffs taken against the Saints, four came on the four-seamer, three on his mid-80s slider and three more on his high-80s changeup. All three pitches had strikeout rates of at minus 33 percent. Anything above 30 percent is considered good.

“The nice thing about facing a lineup twice is being able to prepare guys and get them out there in different ways,” Skenes said. “(I’m) trying to think about the game from that side.”

The strong performance occurred in a fairly small sample.

Skenes’ 3 1/3 innings tied his season high as he has yet to complete four frames in a 2024 start, and he finished after 65 pitches, a slight increase from his 55 last time in Toledo on April 12 (another appearance in which he fanned eight in 3 1/3 scoreless innings).

The Pirates deliberately slowed the start of Skenes’ first full season in hopes that he could stay healthy and productive during this and future seasons.

“We don’t want to go from 0 to 100 right away,” Pittsburgh general manager Ben Cherington said during an appearance on 93.7 The Fan last weekend. “Paul is so important to us in the long term, so we want to really think about it.”

However, knowing that’s the plan doesn’t quench the former LSU star’s competitive juices. When Indianapolis manager Miguel Perez came out of the dugout to pick him off in the fourth, Skenes may have looked calm on the outside, but on the inside it was a different story.

“I wasn’t happy,” he said. “But it’s over his head. It’s above my head.

In Skenes’ eyes, there is only one way to overcome this frustration.

“You just have to compete,” he said. “There’s nothing I can do. It’s just about competing and executing.

Skenes has certainly shown Major League quality and results early in the International League, starting with his 57.4% K rate in his first four starts. He also sports a 0.71 WHIP and didn’t allow an extra-base hit in Triple-A until Twins No. 23 prospect Yunior Severino’s double Thursday in the second inning.

Skenes’ main goal at this point isn’t just to produce spectacular numbers. It’s about working as deep into games as he’s allowed to.

“I’m just trying to get through the innings efficiently,” he said. “The strikeouts are going to happen. This is my approach every time.