![Paul Skenes]()
Maybe next time
Livvy Dunne should conspire to take over or disconnect the bullpen phone for her beau Paul Skenes. The Pittsburgh Pirates rookie is the singular reason a lot of us baseball casuals are even paying a slight amount of attention to regular-season MLB action amid the dog days of summer.
Fresh off being named a National League All-Star as a mere rookie, Skenes took the hill on Thursday and blanked the Milwaukee Brewers through seven no-hit innings and 11 strikeouts. He'd thrown 99 pitches on the afternoon, prompting Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton to pull him from the game.
https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1811497384033255633
Back in the day Shelton would be investigated by HUAC for this call. You have the chance for your prodigious, franchise-carrying, immediate ace to go into the record books forever with a no-hitter. And you...don't let him go back out for the
eighth inning?
I get that you need to keep the big picture in mind for Skenes, but does this look like the countenance of somebody who was ready to ride the pine?
https://twitter.com/StoolBaseball/status/1811493760687112368
Making matters worse, the Pirates immediately lost their no-hit bid when Skenes left the mound. That's real. The second pitch from Colin Holderman resulted in a base hit. PS, how improbable is it that a man whose last name is Holderman winds up playing Major League Baseball, where his surname matches his specialized job description? Astronomical.
Although the Pirates secured the 1-0 victory thanks to Holderman's hold and Aroldis Chapman slamming the door for the save in the ninth,
Most of MLB Twitter empathized with Skenes' situation, making the very reasonable assumption that he wanted to try to get through all nine innings.
https://twitter.com/AustinRBechtold/status/1811491567125020775
https://twitter.com/notgaetti/status/1811495479001162236
https://twitter.com/KyleRiggins/status/1811497571573014999
https://twitter.com/lakerfansmiley/status/1811497466631803142
https://twitter.com/boxingfan3333/status/1811494225894134111
https://twitter.com/NBATradeFinder/status/1811492815123198366
https://twitter.com/MeganMakinMoney/status/1811508278347858248
https://twitter.com/Pittsburgh_Dad/status/1811500364664918148
The
Moneyball-inspired rise of analytics, sabermetrics, and whatever other nerdy math term you want to throw out there are all indeed to blame for Skenes getting the early hook.
When Skenes got pulled through six no-hit innings against the Cubs in only his second start, that made a little more sense. He'd thrown 100 pitches and it was a full inning sooner. The way he was rolling on Thursday, it's a real shame Skenes didn't get the chance to play it out. He'd only walked one batter, just like that aforementioned gem versus the Cubbies.
Enjoy the highlights below, accompanied by some sophisticated stats that underscore how much the data should've tipped off Shelton to keep Skenes going. The 22-year-old is simply a machine of a man on the mound. Immediate megastar.
https://twitter.com/joe_block/status/1811492830663107000
https://twitter.com/MLB/status/1811502865833427074
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTPqaaATeoU
