North Shore Nine

Was Justin Timberlake right all of those years ago? Is it “Gonna be May!”? Pirates fans all hope so. There has not been a more anticipated pitching prospect since Gerrit Cole. For those that were in the stadium for that start, it was amazing, a prelude to many more electric moments that followed in the few years afterward. There have been rumblings, both locally and nationally, that Paul Skenes could be called up by May 3rd. That would be in line for the series against the Colorado Rockies, with a potential second start against the Angels. Recently, Ben Cherington said the following: “We are managing his volume right now. He is going to start to build pitch count as we get deeper into April, confident he will handle that really well. We will see where that leads us, no timeline.” The NS9 Starbucs this week discussed Skenes. The link is above, start at the 29:00 mark for just Skenes, though it is advisable to watch the whole thing.

As far as timeline goes, he is expected to start on 4/11, meaning his next would be on 4/17. Then the two starts in one week goal would happen on 4/23 and 4/28, which would mean his next start would fall on, drumroll please, 5/3. If the plan is for him to pitch four innings on the 11th and 17th, then go five innings on the 23rd and 28th, he would be at 24 innings pitched in AAA before the potential call-up. This would lead to maybe 100-125 innings left to him for the season, which could be 20 or so starts. Now they could limit once he is called up as well to make sure he is making starts into September, and hopefully beyond, in the same way they will need to with Jared Jones. But with the depth as it currently stands for the Pirates that may not be the issue it was once feared to be. But in his two three-inning starts, Skenes has been dominant. Over those six innings he has allowed one hit, given one free pass, and struck out eleven, throwing a total of 90 pitches. The next two starts will be important as he ups his pitch count and the number of innings he goes. If he continues to do what he has done to date his second time through the lineup, he won’t be held back for much longer.

When it is all said and done, Skenes will make his MLB debut this year for the Pirates. Whether it be May 3rd or June 6th, it will happen this year, and with the way he has been pitching, it will be sooner rather than later.