PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It’s what you keep hearing from the Pirates and Paul Skenes, he’s not hurt, just scuffling. General manager Ben Cherington explained his reasonings for pushing Skenes start from Sunday to Wednesday.
Cherington told Pirates Insider Jason Mackey that Skenes articulated to management that he wanted to start against Boston Sunday. The Bucs GM said he also knew that Skenes ‘is grinding a little bit’, which he said isn’t uncommon for any player at this point of the season.
“We just made the determination as we got into (Saturday) based on all the information we had that it would be prudent and the right thing to give him a little extra recovery this time around,” Cherington said. “That hopefully helps him because he’s working through things guys work through this time of year.”
Cherington seemed to put more of this on the whirlwind the last three years Skenes has been involved in.
“If we zoom out, I know there has been a lot of discussion around the Paul Skenes topic recently,” Cherington said on 93.7 The Fan. “I think back to College World Series 2023 and everything that has happened with Paul and around Paul since then is really a lot. I can’t imagine a young starting pitcher doing more than he’s done in baseball since that time.”
He said it’s not atypical for pitchers to be dealing with this. Cherington specified not just pitchers, but elite starting pitchers over history have had stretches where it is a grind-a word he used often.
“Our job is to help him get through this period in a way that is safe and effective for him,” Cherington said with Jason Mackey on the Pirates Insider Show on 93.7 The Fan. “And we rely on him a lot and what he’s telling us. We will continue to do that. That will guide our decisions after Wednesday as well.”
Cherington then said again, Skenes is not dealing with an injury.
“There is no indication, no information that we have that suggests that,” Cherington said on 93.7 The Fan. “That he is hurt or there is an injury. He doesn’t believe that. We don’t see that based on the information we have.”
“It’s also true baseball players go through stretches where they are not injured or hurt, but grind through stuff.”
Skenes ERA is nearly two runs higher than last year, his batting average against is 29 points higher and the WHIP is 0.17 higher. Those numbers aside, Cherington still doesn’t buy the talk of a huge slide.
“With that said, he’s still been one of the best starting pitchers in the National League this year,” Cherington told Mackey on 93.7 The Fan. “He’s among the league-leaders in strikeouts. His strikeout-to-walk rate is exactly where it’s been in the past. This has been an excellent year for him, and, like other elite pitchers, there’s going to be small stretches in time where it doesn’t quite come together quite the way it does at other times.”
“We are betting on Paul to work through this period, like he does with everything else, and come out the other side. We are very lucky he’s a Pirate.”
LISTEN as Ben Cherington explains the decision to delay his next start
LISTEN as Ben Cherington explains the decision to delay his next start
