Morning Rundown: Pirates' Top Pick Paul Skenes Makes Pro Debut
2023 first overall pick makes his professional debut in the Florida Complex League, pitching one inning against the Twins.
Paul Skenes, the top pick in the 2023 MLB draft, made his pro debut today with the FCL Pirates in a game against the FCL Twins. It wasn’t a lengthy outing, as Skenes threw only ten pitches in a 1-2-3 first inning.
Skenes’ very first pitch sawed off the bat of the leadoff hitter, producing a little roller to first. He got ahead of the next hitter and got the out on a moderately deep fly ball to right. The third hitter, Walker Jenkins, went four picks after Skenes and has been blistering hot since his debut. He went to a full count, then fanned on a foul tip off a high fastball. Skenes reportedly topped 100 mph in the short inning.
How long before Skenes moves up, and where to, only the Pirates know, but it can’t be very long.
Murphy: Skenes threw a total of 11 pitches, 10 of which were fastballs. Thanks to a YouTube site that live streamed the game - apparently there has been quite a few done this way - that also displayed some of the tracking, we know the velocity and spin rate for each pitch.
The fastballs averaged 100.1 mph, and had a spin rate of 2317.6 rpms. We even got the pitch movement of his last fastball, which came in with an IVB and horizontal break both at 13.
Minor League Recap 8/10
Indianapolis Indians - 1 vs Nashville Sound - 7
Top Hitter - Grant Koch: 1-2, RBI
Top Pitcher - Hunter Stratton: 2 IP, BB, 3 K
Indianapolis Indians - 0 vs Nashville Sound - 8
Top Hitter - Ji-Hwan Bae: 1-3, BB, 2B
Top Pitcher - Roansy Contreras: 3 IP, H, 2 BB, 2 K
Altoona Curve - 0 vs Erie SeaWolves - 2
Top Hitter - Chavez Young: 1-3, 2B
Top Pitcher - Braxton Ashcraft: 3 IP, H, 3 K
Greensboro Grasshoppers - 8 vs Greenville Drive - 7
Top Hitter - Shawn Ross: 3-5, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR (10)
Top Pitcher - Cy Nielson: 2.1 IP, H, BB, 2 K
Bradenton Marauders - 15 vs Fort Myers Mighty Mussels - 8
Top Hitter - Lonnie White Jr.: 3-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB, 2B, SB
Top Pitcher - Elijah Birdsong: 1.1 IP, 2 K
FCL Pirates - 2 vs FCL Twins - 4
Top Hitter - Jeral Toledo: 4-5, RBI,
Top Pitcher - Emmanuel De Los Santos: 2.1 IP, BB, 3 K
DSL Pirates Black - 7 vs DSL Mets Orange - 15
Top Hitter - Joseph Sequera: 1-3, 3 RBI, BB
Top Pitcher - Francis Reyes: 2.1 IP, 3 BB, 4 K
DSL Pirates Gold - 5 vs DSL Royals Blue - 0
Top Hitter - John Zorrilla: 1-3, 2 R, RBI, HR (2)
Top Pitcher - Carlos Castillo: 4 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, K
Can't beat those first-hand accounts from the FCL when all of the fans are basically sitting front row
Darwin Baez and Rayber Romero were both released today. FCL players who were low budget signings on the international side