Pirates’ Paul Skenes Makes Plea Before First Spring Outing

Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes just wants to throw in front of fans.

Skenes threw on Monday, though his live batting practice session came on the backfields at Pirate City with no fans in attendance to see all the new stuff he’s been working on.

“Gotta get some fans in the stands now,” Skenes said, per video shared by Dejan Kovacevic. “Get some adrenaline pumping because I’m tired of throwing with nobody in the stands. It makes a difference. I felt good. Execution was good. I’m in a good spot… It’s going to be good, especially with the new stuff. Just throwing it to hitters and seeing how they react more than anything. Building volume [is] great, throwing with fans in the stands [is] great, but just seeing how my stuff plays.”

Skenes will toe the rubber for an exhibition game for the first time next week, as his initial spring debut date was postponed due to rain.

He’s been carving up teammates, but soon it will be time to start taking down an opponent.

“They haven’t liked hitting off me, I think,” Skenes said. “We’ll see when another team gets in the box.”

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