Paul Skenes’ MLB debut puts Pirates’ Andrew McCutchen in epic spot again 14 years later

McCutchen recorded two hits and one RBI in the 10-9 win at PNC Park on May 11, 2024. He failed to get on base and struck out once against Strasburg at Nationals Park on June 8, 2010. On each side of Cutch’s rise to stardom and his storied career with the Pirates, he played in games featuring two of the most hyped prospects in MLB.

Paul Skenes makes MLB debut in Pirates win vs. Cubs

Skenes may not have had the debut that Strasburg did but that’s only because no one has. The superstar in the making fanned 14 batters, a record for a National (as in not when the team was the Montreal Expos), and allowed just two earned runs in seven innings.

In his first matchup, Skenes faced a much better team than Strasburg did. While the latter really only had McCutchen and Neil Walker to worry about, the former had to face Cubs lineup with numerous good hitters. Cody Bellinger, Seiya Suzuki, Nico Hoerner, Michael Busch and Mike Tauchman are all good hitters in the midst of solid starts to their seasons.

Skenes threw 84 pitches over four innings, allowing three earned runs, six hits and two walks. He struck out seven hitters, including his first one.

Baseball fans will be seeing a lot of Skenes in the future — and, hopefully for the Pirates, for more reasons than just the fact that he’s dating social media sensation Livvy Dunne. His talent is on another level and at just 21 years of age, he has plenty of time to harness his wicked velocity.

The Pirates’ record of 18-22 has them third in the NL Central right now. Skenes still has plenty of room to grow but the 21-year-old should be able to dominate with his blazing-fast mix of pitches. Along with fellow rookie Jared Jones, who has a 2.68 ERA across 47.0 innings this season, Pittsburgh has a great one-two pitching punch for the future.