Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes has been phenomenal. The rookie sensation has quickly become one of the most exciting pitchers in Major League Baseball. Also, one of the most dominant.
Skenes turned in another prodigious performance on Monday night. Skenes went six innings, struck out seven batters, and allowed one earned run against the St. Louis Cardinals. While the Cardinals won 4-0 over Pittsburgh, Skenes’ terrific showing still stood out.
That performance brought Skenes into rarified air for rookie pitchers. According to Sarah Langs, Skenes has one of the best ERAs of any pitcher through their first 20 career appearances.
Langs noted that only Steve Rogers and Hideo Nomo rank ahead of Skenes in this category.
lowest ERA in first 20 career app, all starts, since ER official in AL + NL (1913):
1973-74 Steve Rogers: 1.80
1995 Hideo Nomo: 2.08
2024 Paul Skenes: 2.10 https://t.co/udfQ37hycB— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) September 16, 2024
This season, Skenes is 10-3 in 21 starts and 126.0 innings pitched. He has a 2.07 ERA, with 158 strikeouts to just 32 walks.
Skenes has been brilliant for the Pirates since he arrived to the big leagues. Even while Pittsburgh deals with futility, you can’t help but be excited every time he takes the mound. The Pirates made the right decision in calling him up as early as they did, as he quickly rose through the ranks in their Minor League system.
It’s clear that Skenes is here to say, and his dominance may only grow as time goes on.
About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022