After being shut down, Pirates top prospect Paul Skenes 'looking forward to what's next'

ALTOONA — The highly anticipated meeting between the former LSU teammates who were the Nos. 1 and 2 picks in the 2023 MLB Draft happened Thursday, just nothing like expected.

Paul Skenes and Dylan Crews met here for lunch at the Knickerbocker Tavern instead of facing each other when the Double-A Altoona Curve hosted the Harrisburg Senators at Peoples Natural Gas Field.

When the Pittsburgh Pirates shut down Skenes for the season by placing him on the development list Tuesday, it marked a premature end to the first pro season for the right-handed pitcher selected first overall.

“We both know we’re gonna face each other a fair amount in the future, too,” Skenes said. “I, obviously, wish I could have faced him.”

After signing Skenes to a record $9.2 million bonus, the Pirates protected their investment in their top prospect, who is ranked No. 3 overall by MLB Pipeline and No. 4 by Baseball America. When Skenes mentioned he was tired Monday night during a guest appearance on AT&T Sports Net, the Pirates didn’t hesitate to pull the plug with an eye toward having him healthy for the offseason and ready the 2024 campaign.

“It was separate,” Skenes said of the decision. “They, obviously, have their plan for me, and I have my plan, which is to go out and compete and execute and win every time I pitch. It is important to do that at the big league level over a long period of time than to do it for a week at the Double-A level. That was kind of the way we saw it.

“You want to keep pitching, but also realize that it’s probably time to shut it down after a long season. I took a day or two for me to process that just because it is different when you show up to the field knowing you’re not going to play. But I understand it. I’m all good with it. Just looking forward to what’s next.”

Pirates top prospect Paul Skenes on being shut down for the season after talking about being tired. pic.twitter.com/AXzfHB3j0o

— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) September 7, 2023

Skenes already pitched a full season at LSU, tossing 122 2/3 innings in leading the Tigers to the College World Series title. After throwing only bullpens while taking six weeks off from competition — a change in adrenaline that Skenes called “weird” — he compiled 6 2/3 innings over one outing in the Florida Complex League, two at High-A Bradenton and two with the Curve.

“That’s hard, man,” Curve manager Callix Crabbe said. “Think about how many innings he threw in college, too. Not just innings but high-intensity innings. His brain is performing at a very high capacity, and he went all the way to the championship. Not one pitch that he threw wasn’t a high-intensity pitch. This is a good time for him to be around us, be around the pro game, have a ball in his hands and still throw outside as normal. He’s just not going to pitch on a mound is all.”

Skenes admitted that his transition from college to the minor leagues showed that professional baseball is “definitely more of a grind.” It taught him the need to work on his consistency after Skenes followed a two-inning dominant outing at Bradenton with a disastrous debut for the Curve, when he recorded only two outs before being pulled.

Not only did Skenes deal with a change in cadence, going from being LSU’s Friday night starter to pitching every fifth or sixth day in the minors, but he expanded his pitch repertoire against advanced hitters.

Where he relied mainly on a four-seam fastball that touched triple digits and a sweeping slider while mixing in a curveball in college, Skenes since has incorporated a sinker that dives and a changeup that keeps hitters from sitting on his heater. Skenes didn’t use the changeup much in college because it played at bat-speed level. Now, he is planning to employ a five-pitch arsenal that should serve him well in the majors.

“When he gets to the big leagues — hopefully in the near future — hitters are going to game plan for him,” Crabbe said. “He’s going to have tendencies he’s going to have to make sure don’t become a strength for them. Having that four- and five-pitch mix and feel for it is a good thing. He probably doesn’t need to get crazy about, but the fact that he has that in his arsenal doesn’t hurt.”

At 6-foot-6, 250 pounds, Skenes cuts an imposing figure and throws with extreme velocity. Top-10 pitching prospect Bubba Chandler, a former Clemson quarterback recruit, was promoted to Double-A when Skenes was placed on the development list and likened Skenes to a defensive end or tight end.

“He’s big as hell,” Chandler said. “God, he’s pumped up. That guy is going to be a horse for many years to come in Pittsburgh.”

Pirates top prospect Paul Skenes, the No. 1 pick of the 2023 MLB Draft, on his timeline to make it to the majors after being shut down for the season. pic.twitter.com/6BBjX30Fu5

— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) September 7, 2023

What Crabbe noticed was how Skenes has a feel for his pitches and was able to throw them to multiple areas of the strike zone with different shapes. Crabbe also was impressed with the intangibles that allowed Skenes to go from an undrafted prospect out of high school to John Olerud Award winner as the nation’s top two-way player at Air Force to being labeled the best college pitching prospect since Stephen Strasburg.

“The talent’s the talent. It’s obvious that he has a big arm and knows how to pitch,” Crabbe said. “What I was most impressed with was the person. From the second he came into the clubhouse, you could really tell he was all about being a good teammate and being competitive and creating this competitive mindset. The players were really welcoming to him. He works hard, man. The biggest thing is, think about his journey. That tells me there’s something inside of him that he has high standards for himself. He sets high expectations but works really hard. That’s what you root for. The rest will probably take care of itself.”

Skenes is working toward making it to the majors, even if his hopes of doing so this season have been dashed. The next challenge for Skenes is knowing that he’s only two hours from PNC Park when it feels like worlds away when he’s not pitching in games the rest of the season.

“My goal is tomorrow, but that’s not going to happen,” Skenes said. “I want to get there as as soon as possible. That’s why this offseason is so important to prepare myself physically and mentally to do that challenge. I want to win at the highest level. I’ve seen a lot of the guys that are in this organization and see the people that are in the big leagues right now. I feel — and I think a lot of people feel — that we have an opportunity to win very soon. If I can contribute to that Opening Day, I want to do that. I also realize that the club has their plans for me. It’s all going to work out in the end.”