![Paul Skenes of Pittsburgh Pirates throwing a pitch.](https://www.totalprosports.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/paulskenes-1.jpg)
MLB fans are losing their minds over a sick camera angle showing just how filthy Paul Skenes’ signature “splinker” pitch is.
The Pittsburgh Pirates drafted Paul Skenes first overall in 2023, and the LSU product has certainly come as advertised. He’s 6-1 on the season (12 total game appearances) with a ridiculous 1.93 ERA and 97 strikeouts against only 13 walks in 74.2 innings pitched, per ESPN‘s stats.
Rob Friedman, known for his popular @PitchingNinja X/Twitter account, posted a video of Skenes’ nasty 95 MPH “splinker” pitch that fooled this St. Louis Cardinals hitter who never stood a chance:
Social media was at a loss for words over Paul Skenes’ virtually unhittable pitch:
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Skenes put together another grade-A start in Tuesday’s 2-1 loss over the NL Central rival Cardinals. He went 8.1 innings, allowing just four hits and one earned run to go along with 11 strikeouts.
Paul Skenes started for the National League in last week’s MLB All-Star Game against the American League. He pitched just the first inning but didn’t allow a single hit (one walk on four batters faced) in a 5-3 win for the AL.
After losing on Tuesday, the Pirates defeated St. Louis 5-0 in Wednesday’s rubber match to secure the series win. They’ll get Thursday off before beginning a three-game road series against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday.
Paul Skenes Is The Future Of The Pittsburgh Pirates
Not much has gone right for the Pirates, who last made the postseason in 2015. That culminated in a loss to the Chicago Cubs in the NL Wild Card Game, preventing Pittsburgh from possibly making its first trip to the NLCS since 1992.
But the Pirates are slowly but surely coming along in their rebuild, and they have the next great MLB pitcher in Paul Skenes. He’s the type of player that teams dream of building around, and it just might not be long until Pittsburgh re-emerges as a contender in the National League.
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