Paul Skenes is the most hyped pitching prospect in some time, but he hit a pretty big bump in the road during his Double-A debut on Saturday.
Skenes, the No. 1 overall pick in July’s MLB Draft, is being moved quickly through the minors by the Pittsburgh Pirates and justifiably so. The 21-year-old hurler made three appearances between rookie ball and Single-A, striking out five while allowing just one hit in four innings of work before being promoted.
Skenes made his first Double-A start for the Altoona Curve on Saturday and it did not go well. He failed to get out of the first inning, surrendering four earned runs on three hits and two walks against the Akron RubberDucks. He did, however, get a pair of strikeouts.
There is no real reason to believe this is anything but a bump in the road for Skenes. There will be an adjustment period as he faces tougher competition than he has before, but there is no reason to think that he won’t be able to do it.
Skenes finished off a dominant career at LSU this year, parlaying a 1.69 ERA into a record signing bonus after being drafted. Expect him to move quickly, but as Saturday demonstrates, it will not be too quickly.
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