Heading into Thursday night’s outing against the Cincinnati Reds, Paul Skenes has made 46 career starts since debuting for the Pittsburgh Pirates last year. During that time, he’s allowed just 60 earned runs in 271 innings, compiling a career 1.99 ERA.
Since the Live Ball Era started in 1920, that’s the best ERA in MLB history through a pitcher’s first 46 career starts, followed by Vida Blue (2.03), Jerry Koosman (2.23) and Dwight Gooden (2.27).
When discussing Skenes’ historic start on Thursday’s episode of “Intentional Talk,” former All-Star hurler Ryan Dempster couldn’t think of any pitcher with a better one.
While Dempster tried to compare the NL Cy Young frontrunner to former Chicago Cubs phenom Kerry Wood, he ultimately settled on Skenes’ start being the best of all time.
“I love this guy, man. I love everything about him. This is what you dream about,” Dempster said. “It is the best start we’ve ever seen from a guy to start his Major League career. No doubt about it.”
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Skenes’ record may not reflect it, however, as he’s been frequently victimized by poor run support. He’s 17-11 over his first 46 starts, including just 6-8 this year despite leading MLB in ERA (2.02 ERA).
But as MLB.com’s Mike Petriello points out, Skenes has still been historically good in his losses. His .574 opponent OPS in his 11 career losses is the lowest in MLB history.
Furthermore, the 23-year-old Pirates ace is only getting better. Last month, he became the first pitcher in MLB history to start the All-Star Game in each of his first two seasons. He then proceeded to win his first career NL Pitcher of the Month award for July after finishing the month with a microscopic 0.67 ERA.
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Skenes will try to keep his impressive start going on Thursday against the Reds, whom he’s dominated in his career. While he’s yet to face them this season, he went 3-0 with a 0.53 ERA and 25 strikeouts in three starts against them last year.
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Featured image via Jeff Curry/Imagn Images