Not that my opinion matters to Pirates brass, but newly-minted Bucs top pick Paul Skenes should be raced through the Pirates’ system.
I haven’t time for patience right now.
This isn’t a long play.
Rip up those paint-by-numbers plans --- this is a dude. A legit dude.
I don’t want to hear about protracted stints in outposts like Altoona or Indianapolis.
Let’s go easy on the seasoning here and grab a heavy pinch of on-the-job training at the big league level with this guy.
I don’t speak for any fans but, well, me --- but I also hear the rumblings from many.
And what I hear is fans know this guy has a rocketship for an arm --- they watched it in the College World Series --- and understand pairing him with Mitch Keller could give the Pirates the best shot at winning in both the short and long term.
I mean, is the trajectory of this organization so much on a rise that it isn’t worth taking a big risk with Skenes sprinting through the system?
Ask yourself: How many pitchers are truly ahead of him, even this very moment, on the organizational depth chart?
If we are all being honest with ourselves, it can’t be many.
Now, I’m not asking Ben Cherington to have Skenes make the first start for the big club out of the All-Star Break; but I’m also asking the Pirates something simple: If they claim this kid is special, they should put him on a special timeline.
We have all been told a zillion times how great he is and can be, so he shouldn’t have to ride the same rides with the average folk. Get Skenes his own car and chauffeur.
For his part, not long after he was drafted Sunday night with the first overall pick, Skenes held a conference call with the Pittsburgh media.
He said: “To an extent it’s my decision when I get to the big leagues based on how I do and how I work. It’s also someone else’s decision to pull me up. …I think I’m close. I don’t know exactly how close but I’m going to do everything in my power to get there as soon as possible.”
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Man, do I like that.
Good work, kid.
Save the whole “I’m just happy to be drafted and I’ll do what they tell me” schtick for someone else. Talk that talk. And talk the truth, young man.
Skenes is projected to be a star and he knows as much. And stars don’t need to be toiling in the minors forever. Or even for that long.
For his part, Cherington offered: “Certainly anticipate and hope he’ll be ramping back up in 2023 and be able to pitch in baseball games in 2023, but we haven’t gotten far enough into that yet to be able to share any detail.”
That’s fair. No one --- not even the most impatient people on the planet like me --- expected a timeline for Skenes just a few minutes after his name was called and he became property of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
But let me give you my timeline and how this all should go down for the 6-foot-6, 260-pound fireballer who is 21 years old.
He should pitch later this summer in Altoona (and start his career no lower than Class AA) and maybe make a start or two in Indianapolis before this season ends.
He should then start the season in 2024 in Indianapolis and make just a few starts --- just a handful.
And about the time school is out in 2024, he should be in Pittsburgh starting for the big club. For good.
That’s me being conservative, too. If he shows he’s ready in Spring Training of 2024, I wouldn’t be against him pretty much skipping Indianapolis and coming North with the Pirates.
Paul Skenes is supposedly the future. You do special things for guys like that. That said, create him his own timeline and get him to Pittsburgh as soon as possible and let him learn here.
Really, what is it going to hurt?