Paul Skenes Casually Hit 102 MPH, Retired the Side in Spring Training Debut
The Pittsburgh Pirates made the obvious choice and selected LSU ace Paul Skenes with the No. 1 pick in the 2023 MLB Draft. Skenes pitched a bit in the minors after his selection and everyone knew he'd get a chance to show his stuff in big league camp this spring. He made his debut on Thursday and looked phenomenal.
Skenes only worked one inning, but dominated three excellent Baltimore Orioles hitters. He got top prospect Jackson Holliday to ground out to second, forced flyouts from Adley Rutschman and Heston Kjerstad.
The in-stadium radar gun regularly registered over 100 mph and had Skenes topping out out at 102. The crazy part is it looked effortless.
Here are some videos of his inning:
The first-ever Jackson Holliday vs. Paul Skenes matchup resulted in a groundout on a 100-mph fastball. pic.twitter.com/flGSffGddd
— Jim Callis (@jimcallisMLB) February 29, 2024
Paul Skenes hit 102 mph twice (on the scoreboard gun) in a scoreless first inning. Here's another battle of No. 1 overall picks, with Adley Rutschman taking 101 mph for a ball & then driving 99 mph to the warning track in RF. pic.twitter.com/WEMV8SgQpb
— Jim Callis (@jimcallisMLB) February 29, 2024
Pitching seems really easy when you can hit triple digits and have arguably the best slider in baseball.
In five minor league appearances last season, Skenes went 0-0, with a 5.40 ERA, a 1.05 WHIP and 10 strikeouts in 6.2 innings. Yes, a miniscule sample size. At LSU, he went 13-2 with a 1.69 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, and 209 strikeouts against 20 walks in 122.2 innings. He his dominance was mind-boggling. That's why the Pirates took him No. 1 and gave him a $9.2 million signing bonus.
It's a safe assumption we'll see the 21-year-old Skenes and his mustache in the big leagues at some point this season.