CHICAGO — While much of the baseball world was in awe of Paul Skeens' major league debut last Saturday, Yasmani Grandal said he pitched better while on a rehab assignment in Triple-A Indianapolis. I watched him do it. Sure, the seven strikeouts and 17 triple-digit fastballs were impressive, but he felt the rookie phenom was capable of more.
Oh, did he have more in the tank.
Skeens dominated the Cubs on Friday in his first major league road start, pitching six no-hitter innings and striking out 11, then handed the ball to the bullpen and the Pirates cruised to a 9-3 victory at Wrigley Field.
“That's pretty much it,” Grandal said after the game. “I don't know what else you could ask for. But like I said, last time it was his debut, so I thought he powered up a little bit. Now, we're seeing a little bit more improvement. He's a calm, “do what needs to be done'' type of person. ”
“I think it was a lot of things,” Skenes said of his success. “Routine, body, someday. You can chalk up a lot of things.”
Skeens didn't take long to establish his power out of the gate, getting strikeouts on all six of his swings as the Cubs struck out in sequence from the first inning. He then struck out the side in the second inning, and struck out Nick Madrigal in the third. Seven up. Seven down. 7 strikeouts.
“We were pretty much at our best for the first three innings, so seven punches,” coach Derek Shelton said. [on] Who are the first nine batters? you don't see it. ”
According to Elias Sports Bureau, this is the first time in modern baseball (since 1900) that the Pirates have done so. Here are some more firsts and notable accomplishments he accomplished Friday.
• Skeens was the first Pirate to strike out 11 Cubs at Wrigley Field.
Skens became the fourth Pirates pitcher to have at least 10 strikeouts in a game before his 22nd birthday. He joins Bob Moose (four innings), Nick Maddox and John Candelaria, the most recent pitcher to accomplish that in 1975.
• Skeens' strikeout from Miles Mastrobuoni in the second inning was clocked at 161.2 mph, which matched his record. Own Fastest strikeout record by a Pirates pitcher in the pitch tracking era (since 2008).
• He joins Hunter Greene (September 17, 2022 and October 3, 2022) and Bobby Miller (July 5, 2023) in leading teams in the pitch-chasing era with pitches over 100 mph. He became the third pitcher to strike out. ).
And, oh yeah, he whiffed 22 times, had 12 triple-digit fastballs, and allowed only one hard-hit ball.
“It's like a big boy throwing a heavy baseball,” Cubs outfielder Pete Crow Armstrong said. “He does a really good job with everything, including mixing. But to hit a guy who throws over 100 pitches with two or three really good second pitches and a sinker that moves like a 95-degree changeup. It’s difficult.”
This time it started with a fastball. In his debut start, he didn't feel like he had his usual control. That certainly rectified on Friday, when he struck out dozens of four-seamer shots.
“When you’re feeling good, it’s easy to throw,” Skenes said. “I have a better idea of where my fastball is going. It's not easy to pitch, no matter the situation, but when you have command of your fastball, it's always easy to pitch because that's what you need. That was the big thing today.”
Speed was also maintained. Skeens' 100th pitch was clocked at 100 mph and beat Mike Tauchman for his 11th strikeout. It was the exclamation point on his day, a necessary first win, and one that impressed everyone except perhaps his catcher.
“Rather, why not 102?” Grandal joked. “I've seen him throw over 120 pitches, and his last one was 102, so I guess he was bad today.”
It was clearly not a down day for Skenes. It was a great start to his career, and he did it at one of the game's most iconic parks.
“I think you’re going to appreciate that even more in the coming days,” Skenes said. “Wrigley is great playing them in the Friday day game. I had heard all about the day game at Wrigley and the atmosphere. It was really cool.”
