Pirates are calling up top pitching prospect Paul Skenes for his major league debut
Updated: 12:10 AM CDT May 9, 2024
I don’t know that I was expecting it. Um Just because I was kind of trying to stay open. I didn’t, I, I had no idea what to expect uh of today, but, um, I met with the Pirates and uh really liked all the people that I met with and everything that I had heard about the Pirates. It seemed like ***, you know, it seems like *** first class organization. Um So I’m, when I, when I heard I was, I was in shock *** little bit. Um just absolutely ecstatic to, to get the news because probably *** year ago I, I this was never uh even *** thought in my mind. Um But yeah, just ecstatic and absolutely honored and humbled to, to be in this position. Congratulations Paul Kevin Gorman from the Pittsburgh Tribune review. Just wanted to ask you what it means to you to be the number one overall pick in the major league baseball draft. It means *** lot. Um It’s super humbling, uh, like I said, I, you know, it’s, I was in shock when I, when I heard, um, because I didn’t know that, uh, you know, *** year ago or two years ago. I never thought that, you know, it was even *** possibility to be the first overall pick. So, um, again, I don’t know what I was expecting, you know, coming into the day, but, uh, it means *** lot to be the first overall pick and I’m just looking forward to, you know, what, what’s to come with, uh, playing baseball and, um, you know, hopefully winning *** World Series or two in, in Pittsburgh. Hey, Paul, this is Justin with the Pittsburgh Tribune review. Congratulations. Good to, good to meet you. I’m curious, uh, growing up, um, what players or pitchers did you idolize? And is there anyone in the league currently, um that you kind of would, would liken yourself to or, or do you try to emulate in terms of what you want, what you do on the mound and uh your stuff? Yeah, I don’t know about, um, you know, comparison to myself because I think, uh I, I do think I’m *** mixture of, of *** number of different pitchers but the guys that I like to watch and the guys that I feel, um, you know, as I move down the mound, I would say Degra Strider Darvish and I know I, I probably don’t look, uh exactly like any of those guys, but that’s what I feel as I move down the mound. Um, and I really like watching Garrett Cole compete Paul Jeff Hathorn from KDK Radio. Sorry, I got interrupted last time too. Uh Leah Van Baton Rouge Advocate. Uh, Paul, you and Dylan went number one and number two in the draft. LSU is, becomes the first college in history to have two picks go number one and two. What do you think this says about the program says that we have the right people. Um, that coach Johnson is doing *** good job in bringing the right people in, into the building. And, um, I don’t think it’s, it’s done anytime soon. I think, I think it’s gonna be *** pattern of, of success for LC baseball. And, um, I’m really excited to see where that program goes. Hey, Paul, it’s Jeff from KDK Radio in Pittsburgh. Congratulations. Uh, how, how close do you feel like you are to being *** major league ready pitcher? To be honest. Um, I’ve gotten asked that *** couple of times over the past few weeks and III, I don’t know, um, I know stuff wise, you know, I, I can look at models and I can look at other people’s stuff and in, in, in *** vacuum, my stuff, you know, people are telling me that it, it plays in the big leagues, but I also know that, um, I mean, I’ve watched this game for so long and it, and it’s always felt so distant, uh, in *** sense just because, you know, I’ve been *** fan and, and sitting in the stands watching all those guys compete and now I don’t know exactly what to expect because it, it’s so close. Um, and I, I don’t know exactly what to expect. I think, you know, to an extent it’s my decision on when I get to the big leagues and, um, you know, based on how I do and, and, you know, how I work and all that and it’s also someone else’s decision to pull me up. But, um, I think I’m close. Um, I don’t know exactly how close, but I’m gonna do everything in my power to get, get there as soon as possible. Dan, really? From, uh 93 7. The fan, I’m curious as to what you, um, what do you think you got to work on, uh, to take that next step if you could do an honest self evaluation? Get really nitpicky if you will. What, uh, what do you want to do better? Yeah, as I met with teams, it’s pretty much been the same thing. Um, I wanna, I think the biggest difference between, uh, college and big leagues with, probably with my stuff is, um, making 30 starts *** year in *** five day window every time versus, uh, 18 or 19 starts in *** seven day window. So that’s, that’s gonna be something, um, you know, that I’m gonna have to focus on making that adjustment and then, you know, focusing on longevity, um, you know, to be able to do it for 10, 15 years at *** time. Um you know, down down the road. Um So first and foremost, I think that’s, that’s what I need to do to be able to maintain my stuff as long as possible, uh down the road and then *** lot of little, little stuff, pitch design stuff that I think is going to help um get hitters out more effectively. Hey, Paul Cody Tanco here with uh Pittsburgh baseball. Now, congrats on the first overall pick. Um We talked to Ben *** little bit and he discussed um your breaking stuff, uh and you know what you offer and things of that sort, but um if you could uh just speak on how you uh how you have *** feel for your breaking pitches. Uh Ben mentioned you had *** gyro slider, *** couple of other sliders to work with. Um But if you could just speak on your uh just breaking stuff in general. Yeah, so I, I developed *** sleeper in the fall um over the summer and in the fall and the whole fall was just trying to develop feel for it. Um And as my, as my velocity increased, uh my hands sped up and I got, I got *** better feel for, for that breaking ball. Um And then incidentally, I don’t actually, I, I don’t actually have ***, *** gyro slider. I used to throw *** Gyra slider, but uh that’s something I’m, I’m working on and during the season I uh I tried to throw that Gyro slider in catch play, just kind of playing around with it. Um Use the same grip and the same cue that I used the last couple of years when I was at Air Force and it, it was *** curveball and I was trying to throw *** gyro slider. Um but my hand, you know, my body had changed, my hand had sped up, you know, from last year. So it, it turned into *** curveball. So those are the two offbeat pitches that, that I have um just kind of *** different shape with each of them and, and I think as I, you know, continue to develop and, and pitch and um go on that track to the, to the big leagues, I think that those, the feel for those are just gonna increase. Would you say your changeup has gotten comfortable uh with you as well? I’ve actually always been *** changeup pitcher. Um throughout the uh high school, there were time like in the fall when I pitched in high school, I wasn’t allowed to throw *** slider with our uh high school coach. He didn’t, that’s just how he ran the program. So which I’m super grateful for because it made me develop, feel for the change up and up till this year. I didn’t really have *** very good slider. Um And I didn’t know how to pitch with the sliders. So I was fastball change up mostly. Um, so I think I’ve always had pretty good feel for the change up. Oh, you talked about this *** little bit? Uh And sorry if you’ve already answered this. But number one, like I know as your career has gone on from Air force to LSU, like the draft has always been, you know, I, I feel like an attainable goal for you, but being first overall, how did, did you really think that this was *** possibility last year? And, and how much did LSU play into this and getting you to today? Uh LSU was huge. Um I don’t know when I came to LSU, the goal wasn’t to be the number one overall draft pick, it was to win *** national championship and get better um every day. And I think when you, I mean, when you start with the, the, the end in mind, when you start with the goal in mind, then then you can go along the road that allows you to um to accomplish that. And I think the way that I’ve gone about my player development um over the past few years, you know, even going back to high school, taking it *** day at *** time and focusing on, on incrementally getting better um when you do that and when you surround yourself with the right people, it makes it very possible for stuff like this to happen, I think, and I think um you guys could see that, you know, when I was at LSU, um you saw the, the end result in the product but, uh, you know, probably not so much the process that went into it but the amount of work and focus and energy and time that went into it, um, in the fall and, and in the winter. But, um, again, I don’t, I don’t think that this, this was ever the goal, um, the goal is to play baseball as long as possible and compete at *** very, very high level for as long as possible. And, and this is probably just *** byproduct of it. Do you feel bigly gritty right now? I think so, like I said, I think my stuff is big league gret. Um, but to be honest, not being in, in professional baseball, uh yet and, and, you know, having to figure out that stuff, I think there’s some stuff that I’m probably gonna have to figure out along the way because I just haven’t been exposed to professional baseball. Um, but I think, you know, with that said, I think I’m my, my end goal, uh, is to be in the big leagues as long as possible as, as long as possible and as soon as possible. And so I’m going to do whatever it takes along the way to, to accomplish that goal. Do you know much about the Pirates organization? I’m sorry, can you repeat that? Do you know much about the Pirates organization. Um, I’ve heard some stuff and I, I’ve, you know, obviously watched the, the big league team *** little bit and I, uh, I know *** little bit about the, the farm system. Um, but more so that the thing that I’m kind of fired up about is the people that I’ve met and talked to along the way, all seem like first class people and they seem like, um, they have *** good understanding of where the organization is going and how to make me better as an individual and most of all how to win um in the long run. And so I’m, I’m super excited to be *** part of that. Um And, you know, super excited to, to see where, where the organization goes. Paul John Pero from Pittsburgh baseball. Now, congratulations on being the number one during this process the last few months. I mean, it was obvious you were going to go very high. First round. Did you ever have *** gut instinct that maybe the Pirates were gonna take you at? Number one? Was there ever any time you thought, hey, this could really happen maybe over the past week when I really started focusing on it. Um You know, I met, I met with them *** couple of times and I, um again, I really like the, the people that I met with. Uh, and I, again, I think that they have *** very good understanding of where the organization is going and how I fit into that. But, um, coming into the day, I, I didn’t know exactly what to expect, uh, didn’t sleep *** whole lot last night just thinking about it. Um, you know, and, and it’s out of my hands. But, uh, during the season, I wasn’t, I wasn’t thinking about the draft *** whole lot. It was just going out there and executing and winning. And as long as I do that, then everything is going to take care of itself. And then once it got to this part of the process, um, started thinking about it maybe *** little bit more, but I think the biggest thing, uh, for this was getting to *** good organization, uh, surrounding myself with good people and, you know, getting my foot in the door of professional baseball. And then as long as I do that, um, you know, I’m gonna bet on myself and, uh, everything is going to go as it should. Hey, Paul, you say WAFB in Baton Rouge, uh, just the combination of this and *** national championship in less than two weeks. Is it, uh, almost too much to process or, or how do you feel, uh, maybe too much to process. I’m still trying to process the national championship, uh, still trying to reflect back on that and the experiences that we had this year. Um, and this is probably gonna take some more time. This is gonna add on to that. So I don’t, uh, I’m, I understand what’s going on. Um, I have *** good grasp of what I need to do going forward, but II, I think you might be right. Um, it’s gonna take *** little bit of time to reflect and look back on how this all happened. And your head coach at LSU, you kind of mentioned it. Um, but his ability to get players like you and Tommy White and whatnot, you think this thing is gonna be set up for *** long time. I do, uh, not that I’m guaranteed *** national championship every year, but, uh, I think he’s going to do, he knows how to bring the right people into the building and, uh, he knows how to develop players, he knows who should be there and, um, he knows how to win. So I think I’ll see baseball’s in *** really good spot for *** long time. Oh, Kevin Gordon from the trip again. Um, you, you talked about going to LSU and your motivation for that, but you were *** great two-way player at Air Force. What was the, the motivation for giving up being *** two-way player focusing on pitching? And how much of that do you feel like that decision? Put you in the position that you are today? Um, I, I don’t know that I would be in *** different position right now. I don’t, I don’t think, um, in terms of winning *** national championship, I should say, I don’t, I don’t know about the, the draft and what teams value and all that. But if I, if I were two ***, I do think, uh, or I do know that my body would not have felt as good throughout the year as it did. Um It, you know, *** kind of gets in the way of player development, I believe just because you’re splitting your time and energy and focus. Um Not that, you know, you’re seeing in the big leagues with Show Tony now, it, it’s, it’s very possible to be, uh, you know, both ways. But, um I think it, it does take *** lot of time and energy and effort to be able to do that. Um And then, you know, just how my body works, uh having long limbs, uh so much rotation in my hips, it was, it was very taxing on my body to do both, especially both. Um right handed. So the mindset was basically not that I, I couldn’t hit this year. Um because, uh going into the, the winter, um, you know, preseason, I was planning on hitting and pitching, but, uh quickly the priority became, you know, making sure that I was healthy on the mound, uh 100% on the mound, um to put us in *** good position to win every Friday night. And that was the mindset. Um And it, it worked out, we won *** national championship Paul. Um Tim Williams Pis prospects. Um You said you’re ***, uh *** changeup guy. I’ve seen ***, uh picture of your change up. It looks like you have kind of *** crazy grip where you have two fingers on either side of the ball. Kind of *** split grip. How did you develop that? And is that, uh, how is that, is that comfortable? I mean, yeah, uh my fingers naturally, like are really far apart, I think. Um, they can spread really easily. So I started doing that and I don’t know, it might be *** byproduct of me throwing that change up for so long, but I started doing that in high school. Uh, and it just, I threw it hard and it moved, you know, how I wanted it to. So I kept throwing it and I’ve gotten the feel for it as I’ve gotten into college and getting it off my, my middle finger and, um, you know, throwing it and, and controlling it and all that. Um, and I just haven’t had to, to switch it up. Oh, with advanced technology and things of that sort. How often do you pay attention to things like rap soto? And, uh, how often do you actually look at your pitches and, you know, kind of gauge on where you’re at, uh, with, in terms of the spin and things of that sort, uh, every time I get on the mound, um, uh, when I was extremely lucky to have it at LSU for every bullpen we had electronic and track man. And in *** lot of them, we had uh force mounds. Um And so I got ***, *** really good uh understanding of how to, you know, read that information and how it pertains to my stuff and how to use that to get its out. Um And then again, we have it in game as well. We have uh trackman during the game. So we got ***, *** report after each game. Um, you know, anybody, any breakdown pitch by pitch, all that. Uh And so I got *** really good understanding of how to use my stuff, um, how it changed over time and how to get hitters out with it. And, um, I’m actually really curious and I’m really looking forward to how they use that stuff in professional baseball with, with even more resources, um, hockey and that kind of thing. I’m, I’m looking forward to learning about that. Well, just to clarify, we, we’ve seen *** lot of different reports on your height and weight. Can you give us ***, uh, *** ballpark where you are either right now or where you are like game shape? Yeah. Right. Uh, game, I probably lost about £5 game shape. It’s 6, 6.5, 2 60. I don’t know where the 2 35 is coming from. We, we’d heard 68, we’d heard, you know, 2 82 anywhere from 2 35 to 2 80. I mean, just people just say you’re *** large guy but I, we just kind of wanted to get specific there. Yes. Yeah. I don’t know. Yeah, they’re probably just my freshman measurements. Hey, Paul, we were talking to Ben Sherington about, um, kind of your wanting to, to learn and improve and he wouldn’t put anything past you and that sort of deal. I’m curious. It, it seems like you have *** naturally curious mindset how much of that has to do with maybe your upbringing or have you always been that way? Just where does that sort of, um you know, learning about track man wanting to always help improve? Where does that come from with you? Yeah, definitely. My upbringing, uh my parents are both very intelligent. My sisters are probably *** lot smarter than I am and just growing up in that environment uh asking questions and, you know, getting answers, learning how to research, learning how to think. Um That was something that was kind of, I would say instilled to me from *** very young age. We went to museums *** lot, you know, learned as much as we could as *** family, that kind of thing. Um And I think that just transferred over to baseball. Um And baseball is an obsession for me to an extent. I, I want to do things um or I wanna wanna get better at everything I can. Um no matter how much time and effort and, you know, I mean, I’ll go down *** rabbit hole sometimes and it, it might be wrong. Um, but if it’s, if it could help me get better then I’ll do it and *** lot of the stuff I do, um, in terms of, you know, research and learning and stuff like that, it’s, I’m doing it on my own, I would say. And, uh, like I said, I, I’m really excited to see what the organization has in professional baseball, um in terms of resources and new research and data and all that. Um that, that could help me get better and help, help the people around me get better as well, you know, to help us win. I wanted to ask about the, the first step of your collegiate uh journey at Air Force. Uh I believe you come from *** military family. Uh What went into that decision for you to start there? Yeah, it was the easiest decision of my life. I uh I went on *** recruiting camp to Air Force after my freshman year of high school. Um, my coaches are at the, you know, they were here today. Um which is cool. So, but I’ve, I’ve known them since after my freshman year of high school and immediately when I went there, I was just sold on, on going to the Air Force Academy. I didn’t want to do anything else. I got recruited by some other schools, but Air Force was the one place I wanted to go. So, um yeah, easiest decision of my life to go there. Hardest decision in my life to leave.
Pirates are calling up top pitching prospect Paul Skenes for his major league debut
Updated: 12:10 AM CDT May 9, 2024
The Pittsburgh Pirates will promote top pitching prospect Paul Skenes for his major league debut on Saturday, a person with direct knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press.The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Wednesday because the Pirates hadn’t explicitly announced the promotion, although the club did send out a hype video of Skenes with “5.11.24.”Video above: Paul Skenes discusses being drafted No. 1 overall by Pittsburgh Skenes was the first overall pick in the 2023 amateur draft out of LSU. The 21-year-old right-hander is 0-0 with a 0.99 ERA in seven Triple-A starts, with 45 strikeouts in 27 1/3 innings. He is considered among baseball’s top prospects and comes with unusual star power for a baseball rookie, in part because of his relationship with LSU gymnast and social media influencer Livvy Dunne.The Pirates host the Cubs on Saturday.
The Pittsburgh Pirates will promote top pitching prospect Paul Skenes for his major league debut on Saturday, a person with direct knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Wednesday because the Pirates hadn’t explicitly announced the promotion, although the club did send out a hype video of Skenes with “5.11.24.”
Video above: Paul Skenes discusses being drafted No. 1 overall by Pittsburgh
Skenes was the first overall pick in the 2023 amateur draft out of LSU. The 21-year-old right-hander is 0-0 with a 0.99 ERA in seven Triple-A starts, with 45 strikeouts in 27 1/3 innings.
He is considered among baseball’s top prospects and comes with unusual star power for a baseball rookie, in part because of his relationship with LSU gymnast and social media influencer Livvy Dunne.
The Pirates host the Cubs on Saturday.
