At the age of 22, Paul Skenes lived up to the hype surrounding him coming out of LSU, where he was the winning pitcher in the championship game of the College World Series, to become the consensus No. 1 pick in the 2023 MLB draft. In 133 innings last season he posted an eye-popping 1.96 ERA, the lowest by a rookie in the live ball era, which began in 1920.
In fact, Skenes' ERA was the best for any rookie with at least 20 starts since Reb Russell of the Chicago White Sox in 1913, whose 1.90 ERA came over 316 2/3 innings in 52 games. But that was a very different era in baseball.
As the top draft pick, Skenes was picked by the Pittsburgh Pirates, a team that has not made a postseason appearance since 2015, and has not finished higher than fourth place in the five-team National League Central Division since 2016 — placing last four times in that span including last season.
Skenes, however, appears to be the type of player a franchise can, and should, build around. But the Pirates have done little to show they plan to do that in the current offseason. Will Skenes be willing to stay in Pittsburgh past the six years of service time required under MLB rules?
As of Sunday, the young superstar was not willing to say.
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"I haven't given it too much thought," Skenes said, appearing at the annual PiratesFest, when he was asked about signing a long-term contract extension.
But Skenes expressed optimism about the upcoming season, despite the team's mediocre 76-86 record in 2024 — the identical record to 2023.
"We have the talent and stuff to do it. We just have to pass the line," Skenes told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "I think that was something that we did really well at times last year."
Skenes was also asked if the Pirates had even approached him about locking him up for the future with a contract extension. The fire-balling righty said he had not heard "a whole lot" on the possibility from the team.
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