Paul Skenes was the No. 1 pick in last year's MLB draft, so everyone figured he'd be pretty good. But this good? Already? Perhaps not even the Pittsburgh Pirates dared to dream so.
Skenes' brilliance was again on display in Thursday's 1-0 win over the Milwaukee Brewers, as he threw seven no-hit innings and struck out 11 batters. Sixty-five of his 99 pitches were strikes. Along with all that, the All-Star righty walked just one. His ERA now sits at 1.90.
"It just comes down to going out there and executing," Skenes told reporters. "So, if strikeouts are what that looks like, then so be it. It's just about getting outs."
The former LSU star has permitted two runs or fewer in nine of his 11 major league starts. He has not lost.
"I don't think anybody thinks that when you come to the big leagues, it's going to be like this," Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton said.
Yeah, uh, probably not.
Per ESPN:
"Colin Holderman replaced Skenes (6-0) and surrendered a leadoff single to Jake Bauers for Milwaukee's first hit. The Brewers loaded the bases with two down in the eighth, but Holderman escaped the jam when he struck out William Contreras swinging.
"Aroldis Chapman handled the ninth for his fourth save, finishing a two-hitter for Pittsburgh."
Skenes retired the final 18 batters faced, whiffing eight of them.
"Just falling back to your process and then just focusing on executing and getting the guys out, getting the pitches and, as long as you do that, then everything's going to kind of fall where it may," Skenes said. "So, just got to fall back to your preparation."
