Skenes dazzled MLB as a rookie -- and he's ready for an encore

BRADENTON, Fla. -- Paul Skenes started mentally mapping out this Spring Training last August. The plan preparing him for this camp was put in place right around when the season ended.

And it¡¯s safe to assume it didn¡¯t have an elongated buildup this time around.

Skenes was the buzz of Pirate City a year ago, when he was MLB Pipeline's top pitching prospect, but he barely saw the mound during Major League Spring Training. It was his first full season of pro ball, so the Pirates opted to instead treat the first month-plus of the Minor League season like his Spring Training, slowly building him up. Skenes wasn¡¯t thrilled with the idea at the time, but he admitted at the end of the season that it was the right call, in retrospect. It kept him healthy and helped him manage his largest pitching workload yet.

It also helped that he had perhaps the best rookie season in franchise history. Skenes went 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA and recorded a new Pirates rookie record 170 strikeouts over 23 starts -- culminating in him winning the National League Rookie of the Year Award and placing third in NL Cy Young Award voting, despite not being promoted to the Majors until May 11.

But ever since those initial plans in August, or at the very least when Skenes walked off the mound at Yankee Stadium on Sept. 28 in Pittsburgh¡¯s penultimate game last season, the encore performance has been on everyone¡¯s mind. Two bullpen sessions and a live batting practice deep into camp, Year 2 is right around the corner.

¡°My body feels really good,¡± Skenes said. ¡°The whole 'best shape of my life thing,' I don¡¯t know about that, but I¡¯m in good shape. I feel good. I¡¯m ready for a large volume and large workload this year. I worked on some stuff during the offseason, honed in on some stuff from last year. I feel like we¡¯re really in a good spot.¡±

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Improving on a year like 2024 would be a daunting task for many, but Pirates general manager Ben Cherington mentioned early in camp that some of Skenes¡¯ pitches already look intentionally different than last year. There are a couple more offerings on the menu this year, like a tailing two-seam fastball and a cutter, the latter being a variation of his two sliders -- one with more bite and another with more sweep.

¡°Really, [I'm] just trying to create more swing decisions,¡± Skenes said. ¡°That¡¯s what it boils down to.¡±

Those new offerings should make it even tougher for hitters. That could lead to heightened expectations.

¡°For me, it¡¯s pretty simple: doing exactly what he did the year prior,¡± pitching coach Oscar Marin said. ¡°His expectation is probably a little bit different than mine, but that¡¯s what makes him great.¡±

Marin has been preaching efficiency this camp, something that Skenes has taken to heart. More than anything, that¡¯s what he wants to get better at this season. If Skenes is efficient, he¡¯ll throw more innings. And his innings count will increase anyway this year if he¡¯s healthy, because he'll actually be up in the Majors all season, but he wants to maximize those frames.

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¡°I think it boils down to that,¡± Skenes said. ¡°There are a number of different ways to do that, but that¡¯s the big one, just getting guys out earlier. ¡­ [Being a strikeout pitcher is] going to be my identity. I¡¯m definitely not going to try to strike out fewer people, but just with my stuff, presence and that kind of thing, I¡¯m going to get my strikeouts. It¡¯s just a matter of limiting the 1-0, 2-0 counts, that kind of thing. That¡¯s more of how I¡¯m thinking about it.¡±

A year ago, Skenes was the new kid in town, a potential phenom. This year, the Pirates need him to be a stud again, but also a leader, an anchor in their rotation. Maybe even an Opening Day starter.

A journey that¡¯s been in the making since August is now underway.

¡°The nice thing is we have a lot of guys returning within the staff,¡± Skenes said. ¡°The goal is that I push Jared [Jones] and Mitch [Keller] and Bailey [Falter] and [Johan] Oviedo and all those guys, and then they push me back and we all get better. Regardless of the anchor or whatever, if we raise the floor on our staff as well as raise the ceiling, that¡¯s the goal, just to get better as we go on. That¡¯s the opportunity, I think, regardless of who is the guy. Just pushing everybody and making everybody better, because it¡¯s going to result in us winning a lot of games.¡±