North Shore Nine

Welcome to the weekly Scouting Prospect; The Top 30 series. Each week we will take a look at a different one of the Pirates Top 30 prospects, with a few bonus “double drop” weeks. The format of these articles will highlight and discuss the following.

• Scouting Score
• Performance
• Expectations
• Projected Debut

When it comes to scouting grades, the scale used is 20-80. So, a 20-30 grade would be considered well below average. A 40 is below average, 50 is average, 60 is above average (Also called Plus) and 70-80 is well above average (or Plus Plus). For prospects the overall grade is where scouts expect the player to perform once in the majors. For example, a 65 grade would be an All-Star caliber standout player, whereas a 50 would be an everyday player and a 40 would be a bench player.

Paul Skenes:
Paule Skenes is rated as one of the best prospects in baseball for a reason, the same reason the Pirates took him 1:1 in the 2023 draft. Standing at 6’6″ and a former catcher, there is a lot to like about him. He has a presence on the mound that go beyond his frame, and the scouts all grade him well on his pitching talents.

These grades are why fans and pundits are hungry to see Skenes in the majors. He has two plus-plus pitches with a third pitch that is above average. His control is rated in the plus category and he is expected to be an All-Star caliber pitcher. His fastball is the dominant pitch in his arsenal, he consistently hits over 100 MPH on the pitch. Scouts and pundits across the league are very high on Skenes, and all expect him to be playing games in Pittsburgh as soon as early May. Also, while the Fastball, Slider and Curve were ranked by scouts he also throws a change-up and a “splinker”. The last is a hybrid of a spitter and a sinker, and something Skenes has said “Call it whatever you want.” Skenes is right, call it what you want because no matter what you call it, it’s a dominant pitch.

So far in AAA, Skenes has been nothing short of dominant, a man among boys. In his seven starts he has thrown 27.1 innings, he has given up three earned run, 17 hits, walked 8and struck out 45 batters. So, to look further out of the 82 outs he has gotten 55% of them via strikeouts. Furthermore, through his first four starts he threw 75 pitches over 100 MPH. That is 3x more than the next closest AAA pitchers and would be better than everyone at the MLB level as well. Skenes pitched well in spring training as well, throwing in two games totaling three innings giving up a solo home run, two other hits and striking out three. The performances in spring and so far, this season in AAA have been phenomenal, but what does it mean for future expectations.

As a 1:1 player in a draft the expectations are very high. Some rise quickly to meet those expectations, Adley Rutschman, and those that struggle to meet them, Henry Davis. When you add to that what Skenes has been doing on the field expectations go off the scale. Add to that the way that he handles himself and how he speaks there is even more to like. Perfect example of that would be the in-person interview he did on the Pat McAfee show.

Skenes appears to check all the boxes, both on and off the field. So expectations are very high, when will be be seen in a Pirates uniform.

There are very few that do not believe we will see Paul Skenes make his Pirates debut in May. Even after his week last week it seems likely he will be up in the Majors sooner rather than later. He will be debuting this year, and it will be within the next month. If you are not excited about that, you don’t have a pulse.