Tag: Paul Skenes

Paul Skenes comes out against robo-umps in Major League Baseball

Paul Skenes is not a fan of the experimental usage of Automatic Ball-Strike systems in Triple-A.

As technology becomes more influential in the game of baseball, we could see some massive changes to how the game is officiated.

Some of those changes have already been adopted in the minor leagues as a test, with Triple-A teams now using an Automatic Ball-Strike system, otherwise known by fans as “robo-umps.” As things currently stand, the first three games of Triple-A series are played with a full ABS system, while the final three games allow empires to call balls and strikes but also allow players to challenge calls using ABS.

The move away from judgment calls by umpires has been controversial, and [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag], the first overall pick in the 2023 MLB draft who is currently pitching for the Pittsburgh Pirates Triple-A affiliate Indianapolis Indians, is not a fan.

Skenes, who was previously a two-way player at Air Force and primarily played catcher, said his main opposition is the fact that it takes the skill of catch framing out of the equation.

“For me, I hope that the ABS never gets to the Major Leagues,” Skenes said in a recent appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, per On3. “To be honest, I just don’t like — because I was a catcher too. And if you can receive pitches, that’s job security for catchers. For the longest time, I was hoping that I was going to be a major leaguer behind the plate. That’s a job back there too.”

It seems unlikely we’re going to put the cork back in the bottle when it comes to ABS systems, but it’s clear that not all players are on board with the way things are going.

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Paul Skenes shines in Triple-A start for Indianapolis Indians

Paul Skenes seems to be on the fast track to the majors.

The No. 1 pick in the [autotag]2023 MLB draft[/autotag], [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag], made another start for the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Triple-A affiliate, the [autotag]Indianapolis Indians[/autotag], as they took on the Memphis Redbirds and Skenes looked great.

Skenes finished the game after three innings of work where he gave up zero runs on only one hit with six strikeouts and a walk. As you can see in the video below, Skenes was doing what he always does. He was throwing in the triple digits easily and his fastball was hard to hit for Memphis.

Skenes has now made two starts this season for Indianapolis and in six innings he has only allowed one hit while striking out 11 hitters and only walking one. He is the No. 1 prospect in the Pittsburgh Pirates system and is likely to make an appearance in the MLB sometime during 2024.

Another top prospect for the Pirates is Jared Jones. He got his first start in the majors recently and he looked great. The future could be bright on the mound for Pittsburgh.

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What is wrong with LSU baseball?

The 2024 season has not gotten off to the best start for the Tigers.

The 2024 season has not gotten off to the best start for the LSU baseball team. After three conference series, the Tigers are 20-9 overall and 2-7 in conference play and have lost all three series. The Tigers dropped series to Mississippi State and Florida 2-1 and then got swept by Arkansas last weekend.

So, what is going on with this team? For one, let’s rewind to the 2023 season. [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] and the LSU Tigers had the two best players in college baseball on their team, [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag] and [autotag]Dylan Crews[/autotag]. The No. 1 and No. 2 overall draft picks in the 2023 MLB draft.

Along with that, the team had [autotag]Tre Morgan[/autotag], [autotag]Gavin Dugas[/autotag], [autotag]Jordan Thompson[/autotag], [autotag]Brayden Jobert[/autotag], [autotag]Cade Beloso[/autotag] and [autotag]Ty Floyd[/autotag]. That equates to two out of three starting pitchers, first and second base, shortstop, designated hitter, and two of the three outfield spots. One outfield spot ([autotag]Josh Pearson[/autotag]), one starting pitcher ([autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag]), and two catchers ([autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] and [autotag]Alex Milazzo[/autotag]) were all that remained from last year’s starting lineup.

Replacing six hitters in your starting lineup and two of your starting pitchers is not an easy task. Johnson had to hit the recruiting trail hard for high school kids and players in the transfer portal. He did a great job of rebuilding the team, but some players you just can’t replace. There is no replacement for those guys.

With that out of the way, let’s take a look at some stats so far. LSU is in the middle of the road for most hitting statistics in the conference. The Tigers are seventh in the conference in batting average, on-base percentage, and hits, eighth in slugging percentage, doubles, and triples. The biggest issue for LSU on the offensive side is that we are ranked 11th out of 14 in RBI and runs scored. LSU is not hitting the long ball as well either as the Tigers rank ninth in that stat.

Three more interesting offensive stats, LSU ranks first in the conference in double plays and caught stealing. First in those areas is not a good thing. That means you have hit the most double plays and been caught stealing the most. [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] leads the conference in double plays. He has hit into eight of them. That’s three more than the next closest player.

Now, let’s look at the Tigers’ performance on the mound. [autotag]Luke Holman[/autotag] is the silver lining of this pitching staff. Without him, you would not want to see any of these numbers. Holman has the second-lowest ERA (1.38), second-highest strikeouts (61), and fourth-lowest opponent batting average (.173). Why am I singling him out? Because if you take him out of the equation, LSU does not have another pitcher in the top 15 of the conference.

LSU has the MOST walks in the SEC (131) and the second most wild pitches in the SEC (28). [autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] is tied for the most losses in the conference with four and three LSU pitchers are tied for sixth in the conference in wild pitches with four. ([autotag]Kade Anderson[/autotag], [autotag]Gage Jump[/autotag] and Hurd)

LSU is sixth in the conference in fielding percentage but [autotag]Michael Braswell III[/autotag] is tied for first for the most errors in the conference with seven. Those numbers will not get the job done, especially in conference play.

LSU will play Southern at home on Monday before hosting Vanderbilt this weekend.

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Starters and shutouts for LSU baseball against Xavier last weekend

Last weekend against Xavier, the starters put up great numbers.

Entering the 2024 season, LSU had a couple of question marks regarding who would be in their starting rotation. We knew that [autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] would be one of the starters based off of his performance in the College World Series.

LSU lost their other two starters, [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag] and [autotag]Ty Floyd[/autotag], to the MLB Draft. Skenes was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates and Floyd was the 38th pick in the draft by the Cincinnati Reds.

With two spots to fill, where would head coach [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] turn? Johnson has recruited very well as he has landed a lot of talented players out of high school and out of the transfer portal.

The two best pitchers in the transfer portal committed to LSU. [autotag]Luke Holman[/autotag] and [autotag]Gage Jump[/autotag]. Holman was the ace for the Alabama Crimson Tide last season and due to his experience in the SEC, he seemed to fit the mold for another starting pitcher spot.

Jump was coming off of a season where he was unable to pitch due to an injury, but as a freshman at UCLA, he was fantastic. The initial plan for the rotation appeared to be Hurd, Holman, and [autotag]Javen Coleman[/autotag]. That’s how things began as Johnson began to ramp up the pitch count for Jump.

Fast forward to now, the Tigers are starting conference play this weekend and the lineup has changed slightly. Hurd did not get off to the greatest start this year so he has slid from the ace to the Sunday starter. Jump has gotten more healthy and he has become the Saturday starter. Holman has proved that he has the ability to be an ace in this rotation.

Last weekend against Xavier, the starters put up great numbers. In total, between the three starters, they finished the weekend 2-0 with zero earned runs allowed over 16 innings pitched. They only allowed seven total hits as they struck out 29 hitters and only walked four.

The worst part of the weekend is that Hurd was given a no-decision as Xavier beat LSU 2-1 on Sunday to end the Tigers’ winning streak. In spite of that, I believe that this pitching staff has the talent to take LSU to Omaha once again.

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LSU’s Luke Holman named SEC Pitcher of the Week

Luke Holman took the mound at Minute Maid Park in Houston and he did exactly what he was expected to do.

In what was LSU’s biggest game of the season, at this point, [autotag]Luke Holman[/autotag] was given the task of trying to shut down the No. 14 team in college baseball, the Texas Longhorns.

Holman took the mound at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas and he did exactly what he was expected to do. He shoved. Holman pitched 5.2 innings and only allowed three hits as he struck out 12 hitters and only walked one as he left Texas with a goose egg on the scoreboard.

Holman has been phenomenal for the Tigers in only three starts in an LSU uniform. In total, he has pitched 18 innings and allowed eight hits, zero runs, and only walked two hitters while striking out 30. He has a 3-0 record with a 0.00 ERA and has cemented himself as the ace of this baseball team.

His current numbers are akin to [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag]’ numbers from last season, but he’s looking to pave his own legacy at LSU.

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The sound of Paul Skenes’ fastball exploding into a glove at spring training had MLB fans in awe

Paul Skenes throws GAS.

Paul Skenes — the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 MLB draft — has been turning heads already in spring training, and not just because he’s dating Olivia Dunne.

He broke his catcher’s glove earlier this year, and he’s throwing triple-digit gas every time he’s on the mound. And now, @PitchingNinja has shared a video of him throwing a pitch that positively EXPLODES into the mitt of his catcher at spring training. It sounds the same way a Shohei Ohtani home run goes POP off the bat.

You’ve got to hear it below, and there’s some reaction to it with jaws dropping everywhere:

WATCH: Dylan Crews throws first pitch as LSU baseball 2024 season opener

The No. 2 pick in the draft made his return to Alex Box Stadium on Friday night.

[autotag]Dylan Crews[/autotag], who was selected by the Washington Nationals with the second overall pick in the 2023 MLB draft, may no longer be a part of the Tigers baseball program.

But he’ll always be a part of the LSU family, and he made his return to Alex Box Stadium to christen the 2024 season by throwing out the first pitch on Friday night ahead of an 11-8 win over VMI.

Crews was a three-year starter in the outfield for the Tigers, winning the Golden Spikes Award as the top player in the nation last season as he and top draft pick [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag] led the Tigers to a national title, which was their first since 2009.

Crews appeared in 35 minor league games with the Nationals at the end of last season. He was called up from the rookie leagues after just one game, and he made 14 Single-A appearances and 20 Double-A appearances.

He was invited to spring training with Washington as a non-roster invite.

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Pirates No. 1 overall pick Paul Skenes broke his catcher’s glove with a fastball at spring training

Paul Skenes may be on the fast track to the majors, and he showed why at spring training.

MLB spring training is upon us, and we’ll be able to get our first extended look at Pittsburgh Pirates prospect Paul Skenes, the top pick in the 2023 draft and currently the No. 3 prospect in baseball.

Skenes is getting the opportunity to pitch with the big-league club after he was given a non-roster invite to spring training. It didn’t take him long to show off his ferocious fastball, which routinely hit triple digits even late into starts during his elite 2023 season at LSU.

Just how powerful is Skenes’ fastball? It managed to punch clean through the glove of his throwing partner.

Don’t believe me? See for yourself

Skenes, who won the Dick Howser Trophy as the national college player of the year last spring, has only seen limited professional action to this point in his career.

He pitched one inning in the rookie leagues and three at the Single-A level before he earned a call-up to Double-A. He appeared in two games, pitching 2.2 innings before the Pirates organization shut him down for the season.

Skenes could find himself pitching in the majors by the end of the 2024 season, and he’s looking to make a strong impression on the Pirates in spring training.

It seems he may have already done that.

Paul Skenes named pitcher to watch in spring training by MLB Network

MLB Network has named Paul Skenes as the No. 2 pitcher to watch during spring training.

The No. 1 pick in the 2023 MLB draft was a right-handed pitcher from LSU. His name, as most of you know, is [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag].

Skenes came to LSU after spending two years as a two-way player at Air Force before betting on his future and transferring to Baton Rouge.

That bet paid off big time for Skenes. He was the ace of the LSU rotation last Spring and he finished the season with a 13-2 record and a 1.69 ERA. In the toughest conference in college baseball, a record and ERA like that is unheard of.

That goes to show just how dominant he was. Skenes was taken by the Pittsburgh Pirates with the first pick of the draft, and he has now received an invite to participate in spring training with the big league team. Skenes has arrived at the spring training facility and everyone wants to take a look at the star pitcher.

MLB Network has named him as the No. 2 pitcher to watch during spring training.

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LSU baseball reveals pitching plan ahead of first weekend of the season

Thatcher Hurd will get the nod on Friday, while Alabama transfer Luke Holman will start on Saturday.

The 2024 LSU baseball team will begin its national title defense on Friday at Alex Box Stadium. The Tigers will face VMI on Friday and Sunday, and it will take on Central Arkansas on Saturday and Monday.

LSU has a lot to replace this spring, and that starts with the pitching rotation, which lost No. 1 draft pick [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag] this offseason. But we now know how the weekend starting rotation will look, at least on Friday and Saturday.

Coach [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] confirmed that [autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag], the hero from last season’s College World Series run, will get the nod on the bump on Friday nights. He’ll be followed by Alabama transfer [autotag]Luke Holman[/autotag], who served as the Tide’s ace last spring, on Saturdays.

The Sunday and Monday spots are still to be determined, and players like [autotag]Gage Jump[/autotag], [autotag]Gavin Guidry[/autotag] and [autotag]Nate Ackenhausen[/autotag] could all be in the mix to start those games.

LSU will begin its season on Friday night against VMI with Hurd on the mound at 2 p.m. CT.

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