Pirates’ Paul Skenes Has Plans For Post Playing Career Figured Out

Hopefully, Paul Skenes isn’t going anywhere for a long time. The Pittsburgh Pirates starter is just two years into his major league career, and he’s already considered one of, if not the best, pitchers in baseball.

Whenever he is ready to hang up his cleats, though, he has a plan.

Ahead of Monday’s 1-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals, Skenes was spotted on the field, hanging out with the grounds crew. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Noah Hiles, he was on the field for 15-20 minutes, but not because he was concerned about the field conditions when he took the field later that night.

Hiles later followed up with Skenes to ask why he was with the grounds crew, and reported that Skenes was “bored.” He also added that when his playing days are over, he’d love to work in professional landscaping.

At just 23 years old, Skenes likely won’t be trading his cleats in for work boots anytime soon. Among qualified pitchers, his 2.03 ERA is the second-best in baseball, trailing only the Houston Astros’ Hunter Brown. He also ranks in the top ten in both strikeouts and WHIP.

His performance on Monday was pedestrian, by his standards. He turned in five innings of shutout baseball, surrendering five hits and striking out five. The Cardinals fouled off 25 pitches, driving up his pitch count and forcing him out of the game at 88 pitches after five innings.

Caleb Ferguson, Isaac Mattson and David Bednar combined for four scoreless innings out of the bullpen to complete the shutout.

While Skenes should be pitching for a long time, if he’s half the landscaper he is a pitcher, his estimates won’t be cheap.

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