Another labor job for Paul Skenes yesterday in a Pirates win. Poni feels like the public sentiment toward Skenes this year has become very personal and visceral. Is it deserved? Has it gotten as bad as Poni thinks? People are calling in saying he needs to change his diet and dump his girlfriend. Why might the turn be so rotten? The guys pointed out some comments Skenes has made over the course of the season on topics like the World Baseball Classic, the pending work stoppage and his overall performance.
The Morning Show was ignored by Curt Schilling today. Calls about Paul Skenes.
Pirates insider Jason Mackey joined the show. Is the Paul Skenes problem simply come down to a mechanical fix? Is Skenes pushing too hard since he knows things haven’t gone well for him this season? The guys asked Jason about how much blame/credit Bill Murphy deserves, and he thinks it’s a little bit too much on both sides. Jason thinks the most valid complaint from fans is Skenes being hard against the salary cap in baseball because that doesn’t go over well with fans, especially in Pittsburgh. Jason thought the Pirates had a pretty good pitching program in place with Oscar Marin at the helm. The guys credited Andrew McCutchen for being an MVP that loved being part of Pittsburgh and with the Pirates, where as Skenes feels like a hired-gun or a mercenary. Why was Ben Cherington suggesting Skenes was having an ‘excellent’ year?
