Photo Credit - Mary Connelly (The U.S. Sun )
The 1st overall selection in the 2023 Major League Baseball draft, Paul Skenes, will not be with the Pittsburgh Pirates on opening day! This news has been making its way all over the baseball community. The move obviously is going to get the fans' attention as Skenes was drafted at the number one slot from this past year’s draft. When I first heard the news I was not shocked but curious. Let’s just cut to it…Pittsburgh clearly needs starting pitching. So this move to fans seems weird. Especially with all the new rules about incentivizing teams to promote prospects faster for future draft picks.
After looking into this for a bit it simply makes sense. Yes if we quickly look at the Pittsburgh rotation we see the following:
Mitch Keller
Martin Perez
Marco Gonzales
Luis Ortiz
Quinn Priester
Bailey Falter
Jared Jones
JT Brubaker - IL60 (Tommy John)
Johan Oviedo - IL60 (Tommy John)
Yikes! Well, there is a reason Pittsburgh used 15 of their 21 picks on pitching in the 2023 draft. So the question remains, why not get the 21-year-old, college pitcher who you just took #1 overall on the opening day roster?
If I were a Pirates fan, yes I would be discouraged but there is a rational reason behind this move. Take a look at what Pirates general manager Ben Cherrington said on the matter - “He has not had the benefit of the full minor-league season,” per Alex Stumpf of MLB.com. “We’re also trying to put him in a position where he has the best chance possible to help us win games in Pittsburgh as soon as possible.”
So has Pittsburgh made the right decision? I believe so! Skenes is a marvelous talent. He is only 21 yeards old and is coming off a year where he just threw 122.2 innings for LSU. I truly believe they will get him up there the moment he is ready and when they think he can help them win games for the long haul. Taking it a step at a time is never the worst option. Although they may suffer not getting an extra pick or so from promoting him for a full season, let us not forget a future draft pick probably isn't worth risking the current #1 overall picks' long-term value.
Skenes is a competitor to his core so this news must be killing him on the inside. As a fan of baseball, this kills me but everything tells me that this is not manipulation in any way, it is Pittsburgh’s management being smart. That being said I absolutely cannot wait for Paul Skenes to make his debut, super excited to see this flame thrower cook!
2023 LSU Stats:
1.69 ERA | 19 GS | 13-2 Record | 122.2 IP | 209 K | 20 BB | 15.3 SO/9 | .750 WHIP