INDIANAPOLIS – Paul Skenes’ stay in Indianapolis wasn’t a long one.
One of baseball’s top prospects is heading to The Show.
Skenes, whose triple-digit fastball electrified Indianapolis Indians fans, will make his Major League debut for the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday. He’ll face the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park.
Skenes is Pittsburgh’s top prospect. MLB Pipeline ranks him No. 1 among pitching prospects, with some scouts calling him the best college pitching prospect since Stephen Strasburg.
In seven starts with the Indians, Skenes pitched 27 1/3 innings and racked up 45 strikeouts. Opponents batted .175 against him, and he allowed just three runs for an impressive 0.99 ERA.
Skenes starred at LSU before the Pirates took him with the first overall pick of last year’s draft. The 6’6” righty was Division I National Player of the Year and led the Tigers to the College World Series title.
Many fans wanted to see Skenes start the season with the big club, but the Pirates decided to give him a few shorter starts in the minors before calling him up. In college, he pitched once a week, while the pro game’s five-man rotation spaces starts closer together.
His longest start for the Indians was six innings on April 30.
Skenes proved dominant in Indianapolis, putting his tremendous fastball to good use. He also has a killer slider and has expanded his repertoire to include a changeup, a curveball and a “splinker,” which MLB.com described as a “sinker-splitter hybrid.”
During his most recent start with the Indians on May 5, Skenes pitched 4 1/3, surrendering two hits, two earned runs and a homer against Buffalo. He struck out four; the Indians won 8-3.
He’ll join a 17-21 Pirates team that currently sits in third place in the NL Central behind the Cubs and division-leading Milwaukee Brewers.