MLB insider Jeff Passan: ‘Paul Skenes is appointment viewing’

On Saturday, 2023 MLB Draft No. 1 overall pick Paul Skenes made his MLB debut. In four innings on the mound, Skenes struck out seven batters, reaching 100 miles per hour on 17 of his 84 pitches. During an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Monday, MLB insider Jeff Passan raved about the Pittsburgh Pirates’ rookie.

“You care about baseball right now,” Passan said to McAfee. “It’s unbelievable. I love to see this. Like, there was genuine excitement in your voice about Paul Skenes and about the Pittsburgh Pirates. God bless that man for getting drafted there because you would not care otherwise.”

In the 10-9 win, Skenes showed flashes of greatness, but was far from perfect. He allowed six hits and three runs in the outing, notching a 6.75 ERA. After the game, Skenes evaluated his performance.

“I have to get them out quicker, regardless if they’re Major League hitters or not, I just have to get them out quicker,” Skenes said. “That’s the bigger thing for me, because, I think the way I threw today, it probably would’ve been a deep [start], or bigger pitch count.”

Skenes’ never-satisfied mindset is part of the reason many experts across the country considered him a generational prospect. In his final season at LSU, Skenes recorded 209 strikeouts to set the SEC single-season record previously set by Ben McDonald of LSU in 1989.

Skenes was 13-2 in 2023 with a 1.69 ERA in 122.2 innings. Further, the 6-foot-6 cannon recorded just 20 walks and limited opponents to a .165 batting average. For his efforts, Skenes was named the 2023 Dick Howser Trophy Winner, annually awarded to the best player in college baseball.

Not to mention, Skenes was key in LSU securing its eighth national championship in program history. Now, Passan believes Paul Skenes will bring success to not only the Pirates, but the MLB, as a whole.

“He’s gonna be good for baseball because over the last 20 or so years, the starting pitcher has become less and less important in baseball,” Passan said. “We’ve seen more guys in more innings out of the bullpen. Paul Skenes is a guy who you can look at on your calendar and say, ‘I’m gonna watch that guy pitch because I want to see something incredible happen.’

“There’s not a lot of appointment viewing when it comes to starting pitchers anymore because, frankly, guys aren’t allowed to go complete games. Guys aren’t allowed to go past 100 pitches. But, this is a guy who went 120 pitches in the College World Series. This is a guy who wants to go deep into the game. This is a guy who throws harder as a starting pitcher than anyone we have ever seen before.”