Paul Skenes’ last pitch in Pirates-Rays might have been his best yet

Pittsburgh Pirates rookie Paul Skenes saved his best pitch for last on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays

As a Boston Red Sox fan of ... let’s just say a certain age I remember with fondness Pedro Martinez’s days taking the mound at Fenway Park. Pedro’s starts were not just games, they were events, particularly during his stretch from 1999 through 2003. Over that period Pedro was one of the most dominant pitchers in the game, and his starts were must-watch, and if you were one of the lucky souls to have a ticket to see him pitch in person, you arranged your entire day around that game.

Less than ten starts into his own MLB career, we are approaching the same level of intrigue around Pittsburgh Pirates rookie Paul Skenes.

Skenes took to the bump on Sunday for just the eighth start of his career, and it was another stellar outing for the tall right-hander. Facing the Tampa Bay Rays at PNC Park, Skenes went seven full innings, allowing just one run on six hits and striking out eight.

And he saved perhaps his best fastball yet for his final pitch of the afternoon.

The rookie got off to a bit of a shaky start, giving up a home run to Yandy Díaz on the first pitch of the game and then a double to Josh Lowe, the next Rays batter. But he settled in after that to get out of the inning, notching a pair of strikeouts. The first came on a high fastball to Randy Arozarena that clocked in at 99 miles per hour, and the second came when he punched out Isaac Paredes on a nasty 87-mph slider on the outside corner of the plate. You can see both punchout pitches here:

Skenes came back with another pair of strikeouts in the second, first going upstairs with high heat to get Jose Siri swinging, then getting Jonny DeLuca looking on a blistering fastball to paint the corner of the plate:

Skenes also got his “splinker” working on the afternoon, going to that pitch for the punchout of Alex Jackson looking in the third:

Jackson will play a starring role later in the game ...

But as noted, he might have saved his best pitch for his final one of the afternoon. Skenes has been working on a pitch count throughout his season and went to the bump for the bottom of the seventh to face the last three hitters in the Tampa Bay lineup. With Skenes beginning the seventh already on 88 pitches, this was likely going to be his final work of the day.

How did he finish it? Dialing it up to 102 on the radar gun to get Jackson swinging:

Also, a quick word on the call there. “I’m sorry Mr. Jackson, Paul Skenes is for real”? Tremendous work there from Greg Brown on the call.

That was Skenes’ final pitch of the day, and it might have been his best yet.

The rookie exited with the game tied at 1-1, and the Rays ended up winning when they put a pair of runs on the board the very next inning working against Colin Holderman, who came on in relief of Skenes.

But make no mistake, Paul Skenes IS for real.