Paul Skenes among Pirates' pitching leaders in the month of April

Pitching standouts through the month of April as well as leaderboards.

Photo Credit: Ryan Palencer

The Pittsburgh Pirates have among the best pitching prospect depth in baseball, which indeed showed in the minors in the first month of the season.

There were plenty of solid pitching performances, and some of the top prospects haven’t even played yet or are not off to a good start.

Here are three standouts from the first month and then some statistical leaders.

Paul Skenes

This was an easy inclusion, as the former first-overall pick has just as advertised and is living up to the billing as the best pitching prospect in baseball.

On the last day of the month, he completed six full innings for the first time in his professional career, striking out seven.

In six starts this season, Skenes has struck out 41 batters, walked six, and allowed only one earned run in 23 innings pitched. His opponents have just a .171 average against him, and his xBA shows he has perhaps pitched better than his actual number (.137 CBA).

Skenes has thrown 167 four-seam fastballs so far, averaging 100 mph, getting a 34% whiff rate, and having an xBA of .207. The ‘splinker’ has averaged in the mid-90s regarding velocity and has a whiff rate of 38.4%. The slider also has been near unhittable with an xBA of .105 and a 44% whiff rate.

Patrick Reilly

Like Skenes, Reilly was another pick in the 2023 draft for the Pirates, also coming out of the SEC (Vanderbilt). While control issues forced him primarily into a bullpen role in college, the Pirates have been trying Reilly out as a starter this season in Greensboro.

From a pure numbers perspective, Reilly has pitched right up there with Skenes regarding performance. In 16.2 innings in April, Reilly struck out 43.9% of the batters he faced while keeping the walk rate under 10% (9.1).

His swing strike rate (SwStr%) was nearly a point better than Skenes’s (look below for full standings), and Reilly was one of the better pitchers in the minors early on.

Of nearly 1,100 players who pitched at least 10 innings in April, Reilly ranked 32nd in SwStr%, 28th in xFIP, and 29th in K-BB%.

According to Josh Norris of Baseball America, during a start he attended, Reilly sat around 92-94 and topped out at 96 mph with his fastball, which he attacks hitters with at the top of the zone.

Michael Kennedy

The 19-year-old Kennedy is among the youngest pitching in full-season baseball for the Pirates, but that hasn’t kept him from having one of the better months of April in the system.

He rattled off back-to-back five-inning, zero-walk starts while striking out 14 combined hitters in that span.

Despite only averaging 90 mph with his fastball, Kennedy has been having a lot of success, especially up in the zone. The fastball has picked up a 25.3% strikeout rate while walking batters at a 2.3% clip.

With the quality of contact, hitters have gotten with the pitch, opponents have an expected slash of .213/.245/.291 against the fastball, and he’s put together a 28.4% whiff rate with it.

Overall, of pitchers with at least 10 innings pitched in April, Kennedy ranked 63rd in xFIP, 100th in K-BB%, and 106th in walk rate.

Swinging Strike Rate (SwStr%)

1. Patrick Reilly - GBO - 18.8%

2. Paul Skenes - IND - 18%

3. Drake Fellows - GBO - 18%

4. Quinn Priester - IND - 17.9%

5. Kyle Nicolas - IND - 17.2%

6. Geronimo Franzua - IND - 15.8%

7. Wilber Dotel - GBO - 15.1%

8. Carlson Reed - BRD - 15%

9. Brent Honeywell Jr. - IND - 14.7%

10. Michael Kennedy - BRD - 13.4%

Earned Run Average (ERA)

1. Paul Skenes - IND - 0.39

2. Hung-Leng Chang - BRD - 0.71

3. Kyle Nicolas - IND - 0.84

4. Wilber Dotel - GBO - 1.17

5. Alessandro Ercolani - GBO - 1.17

6. Yoldin De La Paz - BRD - 1.32

7. Carlson Reed - BRD - 1.72

8. Dominic Perachi - GBO/ALT - 2.03

9. Nick Dombkowski - ALT/IND - 2.25

10. Brady Feigl - IND - 2.25

Expected Pitching Independent Fielding (xFIP)

1. Paul Skenes - IND - 1.78

2. Patrick Reilly - GBO - 1.92

3. Michael Kennedy - BRD - 2.39

4. Hunter Barco - GBO - 2.61

5. Quinn Priester - IND - 3.20

6. Carlson Reed - BRD - 3.25

7. Yoldin De La Paz - 3.26

8. Brady Feigl - IND - 3.30

9. Drake Fellows - GBO - 3.56

10. Valentin Linarez - ALT - 3.60

Strikeout-Walk Rate (K-BB%)

1. Paul Skenes - IND - 39.8%

2. Patrick Reilly - GBO - 34.8%

3. Michael Kennedy - BRD - 28.4%

4. Quinn Priester - IND - 25.9%

5. Brady Feigl - IND - 25.5%

6. Hunter Barco - GBO - 25.3%

7. Michael Plassmeyer - IND - 24.7%

8. Landon Tomkins - GBO - 21.4%

9. Eric Lauer - IND - 20.3%

10. Carlson Reed - BRD - 19.7%

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