The Pittsburgh Pirates certainly hit it out of the park by selecting young fireballer Paul Skenes in the first round of the 2023 Major League Baseball June Amateur Draft.
Skenes was selected with the first overall pick in last summer’s draft and quickly shot up the Pirates’ farm system. He electrified his way through the minor leagues and made his big league debut less than a year after being drafted by Pittsburgh.
The young starter not only has helped the Pirates on the field but has looked like one of the best pitchers in baseball overall. He has been so good for Pittsburgh this season that he recently was named the National League starter for the upcoming All-Star Game. This is a rare feat and Skenes will become the first rookie pitcher to start the All-Star Game since Hideo Nomo did so in 1995, according to MLB.com’s Manny Randhawa.
“Paul Skenes and Corbin Burnes will be the starting pitchers for the 94th Midsummer Classic, which means hitters will face much more heat than the triple-digit temperatures outside the air-conditioned venue,” Randhawa said. “Skenes, the Pirates’ flamethrowing right-hander, has captured the collective imagination of the baseball world with a historic start to his Major League career. And he will become the first rookie to start the All-Star Game since Hideo Nomo, who did so right here in Arlington back in 1995.”
This certainly is a great accomplishment for the young fireballer and it may not be his last this season. He has made 11 starts and has a blistering 1.90 ERA to go along with an 89-to-13 strikeout-to-walk ratio and perfect 6-0 record.
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If he can keep up that level of play when the second half of the season kicks off, maybe there could be some hardware coming his way when the regular season comes to a close.
Things are looking up for the Pirates.
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