Paul Skenes will keep dominating for the Pirates — albeit with some extra cautions added for the rookie phenom down the stretch.
As rumors swirl over whether the team may shut down Skenes while they fade out of the playoff race, Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton revealed the team is not considering that tactic yet.
Skenes set a new career-high in innings Thursday after throwing six scoreless frames in the Pirates’ 7-0 home win over the Reds.
“There is no immediate plan to shut him down,” Shelton said, per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “There has never been any immediate plans to shut him down. How we monitor that, whether it’s an innings limit or a workload limit per game, we’ll be thoughtful about that.”
With Pittsburgh (60-67) eight games out of a playoff spot with 35 games remaining, it’s natural to wonder whether the team would shut down Skenes in an attempt to help avoid any injuries.
Skenes has thrown 131 ⅓ innings between the majors and minors his year, topping the 129 ⅓ innings he tossed last year with LSU and the Pirates’ minor-league affiliates.
Any potential shutdown would obviously affect Skenes’ case for NL Rookie of the Year, where he has been overtaken by the Padres’ Jackson Merrill.
The Pirates are seemingly set to let Skenes (8-2, 2.16 ERA) attempt to finish his first season, but they are adding some precautions to help the process.
Skenes has been receiving at least five days of rest between all of his starts and that will continue to be the case.
“He will not pitch on regular rest the rest of the year. I can almost assure you of that,” Shelton said, per the Post-Gazette. “I don’t say things in a definite very much, but I can say it’s 95 percent he will not throw on a regular four-day rest.”
Pittsburgh can also limit his innings and pitches in each game.
Despite Skenes allowing just two hits and striking out nine Thursday, he lasted only 87 pitches.
The righty has lasted no more than six innings and maxed at 100 pitches this month.
Skenes seemingly understands the team’s plans.
“That’s one of the big things of this season, just getting used to how long the season is, because it’s super important to be used to that to have a better plan for the offseason and all the seasons going forward, so that it’s not a shock to my system,” Skenes said, per the outlet.
“If we’re making the season longer incrementally, I think that’s a lot worse than making the season longer one time, which as frustrating as it was at the beginning of the season with starting in Triple-A and the innings limit there, I don’t think we could have done it any better.”
The 22-year-old boyfriend of star LSU gymnast Livvy Dunne is feeling fine heading into his final handful of starts.
“Not necessarily surprised by that but pleased with it, with how good I’m feeling right now,” Skenes said, per the Post-Gazette. “You just got to keep working and sprint to the end of the season here.”