PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Like you would expect, Paul Skenes was direct and to the point when discussing now working with his second Pirates manager in less than one full year in the majors.
“Yeah unfortunately I wasn’t shocked,” Skenes said Friday. “At the end of the day we’re 12-26. Someone’s got to be held accountable and unfortunately right now, it’s him.”
It was then what Skenes, who is dealing with losing for the first time in his college or pro career, said of what needs to change.
“I don’t know that it fixes the root of the issue which is we need to play better,” Skenes said Friday afternoon. “That’s been the messaging today, that’s been the messaging for a little bit now and we’ve still got to do that.”
Asked if he thinks the firing of the manager could increase urgency from the group or provide a wake-up call?
“We’ll see,” Skenes said.
Just a year in and a leader on this team, Skenes said change starts with him taking care of himself. It’s personal leadership, making sure he is doing what he needs to do. Skenes said it’s a ‘growth thing’. He said even when he was throwing it well last year, there was room for growth. The 23-year-old said there is room for growth now, for all.
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“That's how it is always,” Skenes said. “The way I see it, the season starts day one of spring training, and spring training is pretty much only about growth. You can call it learning experiences, you can call it whatever you want. Every time you go out there you're learning.”
“Basically, what I'm saying is whatever team is going to win the World Series, maybe it's us, they're growing right now too. We gotta do that. We gotta know the urgency of it.”
Asked if the season was salvageable, Skenes said that is something they need to figure out as a group. He said it’s not like they tried to lose any of the 26 games, but they are not doing the things needed to win. They need to figure out their goal for the rest of the season and how to get there. If they don’t learn from these experiences, it will be a lost season.
It’s not that Skenes is against Don Kelly taking over the team. In fact, he’s very supportive.
“I’m super confident in him,” Skenes said. “Obviously, he’s never managed at the big-league level. I don’t know if he’s managed at any other level but he’s a great leader, knows the game, knows how to connect with people. He cares about us. Lot of really good qualities. I think he’s going to do a good job.”
Will the players grow and figure out how to win under him? That will determine the salvageability of the season.