Paul Skenes now leads the league in strikeouts and surpassed a career milestone on Wednesday.
Pitching for the first time at Camden Yards against the Baltimore Orioles, Skenes delivered a five-inning shutout performance.
He struck out eight birds and eclipsed the 200 strikeout mark for the first time in his career. Skenes owns a National League-best 203 strikeouts.
He’s third in baseball behind Boston’s Garrett Crochet (228) and Detroit’s Tarik Skubal (222).
Skenes, 23, is arguably the greatest pitcher
in baseball history through their first two seasons. It makes you dream of what Skenes would look like in front of a packed PNC Park blackout during a playoff game.
As the Pirates sit 20 games under .500, it’s wishful thinking. The team needs to significantly invest in offense.
Skenes owns an MLB-best 7.4 WAR this season and has -20,000 odds to win the Cy Young Award. He’s only allowed 38 earned runs and 39 walks in 178 innings.
The Pirates ace leads baseball in ERA+ (225), FIP (2.25), and tops the NL in WHIP (0.921) and strikeout/walk ratio (5.21).
Skenes will take the mound Tuesday as the Bucs host the Chicago Cubs at 6:40 p.m. It’s Skenes’ last home start of the season as the Pirates conclude the home schedule on Sunday against the A’s.
Skenes has put together a season for the ages, convincingly one of the best seasons by a starting pitcher in Pirates and Major League Baseball history.
