Morning Rundown: Paul Skenes throws seven no-hit innings

Paul Skenes picks up his sixth win of the season

Jul 12, 2024

The magnificent rookie season of Paul Skenes was continued on Thursday, as he tossed seven no-hit innings while striking out 11.

After seeing his pitch count inflate early on, Skenes was much more efficient down the stretch, which helped him complete the seven frames and need only 99 pitches.

Skenes went fastball/splinker heavy, with nearly 70% of his overall pitches being one of the two.

The former first-overall pick has a 6-0 record in 11 starts and lowered his ERA to 1.90. He’s also struck out 89 batters while walking 13 over 66.1 innings pitched.

Now, Skenes will turn his attention to the All-Star game, where he has made a strong case for being the starting pitcher for the National League.

Po-Yu Chen pitched seven innings of one-run baseball while striking out another seven batters, picking up the win for the Altoona Curve.

After a rough start to the season, Chen has been playing a lot better of late. He’s completed at least seven innings in his last three starts, allowing just five earned runs.

His latest start also dropped his ERA under four, sitting at 3.90 now.

Check out our latest podcast episode, in which we are joined by Corey Shrader of Steel City Pirates to discuss the 2024 MLB Draft. We reflect on the 2023 draft, when the Pirates took Paul Skenes, and then focus on who are some of the top names in the 2024 draft and who might be some options for the Pirates at 1.9.

We each then give three players (plus three more rapid-fire ones) we are watching that will be available beyond round one.

Nola and I also plan on doing a live stream during the draft. We will go live around when the Pirates make their second selection of the night and continue through the rest of the night.

I’ll post the link when it’s available, and I may do a quick test run the morning of the draft to work through everything and preview the day.

FCL Pirates transferred SS John Zorrilla from the 7-day injured list to the 60-day injured list
Bradenton Marauders placed RHP Tyler Kennedy on the 7-day injured list
Greensboro Grasshoppers placed RHP Brandan Bidois

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