Morning Rundown: Paul Skenes Struggles In Altoona Debut
The first overall pick in the most recent draft didn't complete a full inning before getting pulled from the game.
Paul Skenes made his highly anticipated Double-A debut for the Altoona Curve on Saturday. Since being drafted, it’d be the closest to Pittsburgh the first overall pick has pitched, which was evident by the crowd, as Peoples Natural Gas Field was sold-out with one of the highest attendances in it’s history.
There will be plenty around the Internet with a far better ability to set the tone, environmentally, than me, who wasn’t at the game, but things didn’t get off to the best of starts.
The first overall pick out of LSU faced just seven batters, and only got two of them out - walking two and allowing three hits.
He also struck out two, showcasing each of his three primary pitches throughout the night.
Obviously, a quick glance at the box score will tell a different story, there were some positives to take from the game.
The change-up looked solid, and very much a legitimate offering. It showed some good fade and he should have success using it off the fastball.
I liked him trying to hit the corner on the backdoor slider. Feels like with the top end velocity he has, it could be easy to forget about the pitch against lefties.
Whichever fastball he was throwing had some solid, sink on it, and the velocity was getting up there.
The Pirates seem intent on working him on a more traditional routine when it comes to days off, which is an underestimated adjustment that pitchers have to deal with after going pro.
Minor League Recap 8/26
Indianapolis Indians - 3 vs Iowa Cubs - 4
Top Hitter - Nick Gonzales: 1-4, R, HR (8), RBI, BB
Top Pitcher - Roansy Contreras: 5 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 6 K
Altoona Curve - 9 vs Akron RubberDucks - 8
Top Hitter - Joe Pere: 3-3, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR (6), 2 BB
Top Pitcher - Noe Toribio: 1.1 IP, H, 3 BB, K
Greensboro Grasshoppers - 2 vs Rome Braves - 4
Top Hitter - Luke Brown: 1-3, 2 RBI, BB, 2B
Top Pitcher - Julian Bosnic: IP, 3 K
Bradenton Marauders - 7 vs Jupiter Hammerheads - 8
Top Hitter - Lonnie White Jr.: 2-5, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR (6),
Top Pitcher - Landon Tomkins: 2 IP, H
Paul Skenes with a rough outing - wonder how long the Pirates will keep him throwing competitively this year? The evaluation of the pitches sounded positive. Definitely things to work on physically and mentally during the off-season. I'd prefer a very conservative approach for the rest of 2023.
Mitch Keller (163 IP) and Johan Oviedo (145 IP) are both at high marks for innings pitched in a season. Keller threw 159 innings in 2022, Oviedo around 127 innings between the Pirates and St Louis including innings at AAA for both. Time to really start to see some guys from AA/AAA who could help with a start or two in the last 30+ games. And, the Pirates are loaded with RP's who could share some starts - even more than they have been.
Johnson is batting just .206 at Greensboro in 83 PAs. However, he has a .390 OBP! He has 4 HRs but no other extra base hits. Weird stats.