PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – The Pirates are altering what they are doing with Paul Skenes for the rest of the season. The rookie righty is looking at a different schedule going forward.
“He will not pitch on regular rest the rest of the year,” said Pirates manager Derek Shelton before SKenes start on Thursday. “I can almost assure you of that.”
“I don't say things in a definite very much, but I can say it's 95% he will not throw on a regular four-day rest.”
Shelton said Skenes is not the only one where they think about their innings total and/or pitch count. He said they have like thoughts with Jared Jones and even veteran Mitch Keller. With Skenes, Shelton said he would be shocked if he’s not on at least five days in between his starts the rest of the season.
“I think there’s different ways to look at it and, again, we’re going to be thoughtful about his (starts) over the next five, six weeks wherever we’re at,” Shelton said. “There is no immediate plan to shut him down, there has never been any immediate plans to shut him down. How we monitor that, whether it’s an innings limit or a workload limit per game, we’ll be thoughtful about that.”
“We won’t really probably talk about it because it can become a competitive advantage on the other side of it, but we are thinking about it.”
It’s the belief of the Pirates manager the reason for 11 walks in his previous four starts before Thursday from Skenes and why he doesn’t look as good in the last few outings are threefold.
· “I think the navigation through the year is something that is important. This is not just his first major-league season, this is his first professional season. You have to learn to get through any professional season, which he's doing at the major-league level.”
· ‘He's been so efficient that when you start to have some normal starts it gets kind of magnified because of how good he's been.’
· ‘We've seen him lose his delivery at times a little bit, and when you lose your delivery, that's when the ball kind of scatters a little bit.’
Again, Shelton said they don’t want to shut him down, they think it’s important for him to go through the grind of February to October pro players endure. Health will dictate a lot of those decisions.
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“You have to learn how to get through a major-league season,” Shelton said. “It's really important and most guys are able to do it. You look at a majority, if not 95% of major-league players, not just major-league pitchers who are doing it, they have at least one season in the minor leagues if not two seasons.”
“What he's doing is something that's very different, it's very special. It's something where we also have to be very mindful of. He's learning how to pitch on Aug. 22. He's gonna learn how to pitch in September, all those things. Most guys get the opportunity to do multiple seasons in the minor leagues and he’s not. That's what we have to be mindful of -- what he's done, what he's doing, all those things.”
Shelton said it’s a physical and mental challenge. He said you will hear guys that say once they get through a first season, they train different. They know what to do in the offseason and prepare better because of the experience.
They just want what is best for Skenes and in turn the Pirates organization. They think letting him finish the season while also being careful with his health will get him set for a big 2025.