<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/pirates-news-gm-not-sure-payroll-around-paul-skenes-next-season');   ga('set', 'title', 'Pirates GM not sure about payroll around Paul Skenes next season');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Pirates-news-GM-not-sure-about-payroll-around-Paul-Skenes-next-season.jpg"></figure><h1>Pirates GM not sure about payroll around Paul Skenes next season</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-03T04:30:07-07:00">October 3rd, 4:30am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-03T04:30:07-07:00">October 3rd, 4:30am</time><address><a>Chris Dodson</a>Chris Dodson is a New Orleans Pelicans beat reporter for ClutchPoints. He has covered Louisiana high school and college basketball in spurts for over a decade. A basketball lifer from the bayou, his gumbo-stirring form matches his elbow jumper celebrations. Fast enough for varsity hoops, tall enough for a soccer scholarship. He has words and will travel, just not on the court.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">MLB</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Pittsburg Pirates will not win the 2024 World Series but the franchise was the talk of the town for a few weeks this summer. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/pirates-news-paul-skenes-perfect-admission-dominant-rookie-season">Pirates ace rookie Paul Skenes was sensational</a> after being promoted from the minors. Now seems the perfect time to build a winning roster around their superstar on a cheap rookie scale deal. It’s not a sure thing though going by GM Ben Cherington’s recent comments.</p><p>Skenes finished the season with an impressive 11-3 win-loss record, a 1.96 ERA, and a 0.95 WHIP. He was one of the best in the world once promoted to The Show, giving the Pirates over 133 innings pitched. He struck out 170 hitters over 23 starts while keeping opposing hitters off balance to the tune of a .198 batting average.</p><p>Still, Cherington admitted <a href="https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/pirates/2024/10/02/derek-shelton-oneil-cruz-paul-skenes-andy-haines/stories/202409300100" rel="noopener">there is some uncertainty</a> when it comes to how much the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/pirates-early-free-agent-targets-2024-mlb-offseason">Pirates will spend in free agency</a> to support the Cy Young candidate and reigning Rookie of the Year next season.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Baseball America's Rookie of the Year: Paul Skenes <a href="https://t.co/ZbqAKQGOZq">pic.twitter.com/ZbqAKQGOZq</a></p><p>— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) <a href="https://twitter.com/Pirates/status/1840800682233741484?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 30, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>“I don’t know what the payroll is going to be next year,” Cherington admitted. “It has increased each year that I’ve been here. I expect that will be the case next year. I also know that it’s just not what’s going to drive winning here the most. That’s mostly because just simply of the structure of the game in a place like Pittsburgh to win. There are other places, there’s no place exactly like Pittsburgh, but there are other places that are similar and you look at how those teams win and (that’s) how we’re gonna win here.”</p><p>Cherington expects internal growth to factor into future success more than any outside free agency acquisitions.</p><p>“(Improving next season) is going to be through all those other things we were talking about,” the GM added. “It’s going to be because we are better at getting our players better. It’s going to be because we draft better…because we get more out of international. It’s going to be because I do a better job finding value in trades and adding wins to the team that way.”</p><p>“We can use payroll,” continued Cherington. “We can use free agency as a tool, and we will. It’ll be a component but it’s just not going to be how we drive winning here. It’s just not my primary focus, candidly. I don’t know what it’s going to be. I expect (payroll) will be higher. It has been higher each year I’m here. Thinking about it as we go into offseason planning meetings two weeks from now, it’s certainly not even on the radar, honestly. We’re thinking about all kinds of other things.”</p><h2><b>Pirates finally looking to add talent to compete</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Paul-Skenes-delivers-a-pitch.jpg"><figcaption>Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The Pirates GM is expected to have a bit more money to play around with but how much is the big question. Upgrading through incremental trades that slowly add salary and talent might be the best option. One big splashy move is too prone to becoming a flop, that’s why the Pirates have been hesitant in recent years.</p><p>Cherington cannot afford to stick to that status quo any longer, however. Good is no longer good enough. Not with Skenes slinging unhittable stuff for a full season. The GM’s job security is on thin ice despite a patient approach paying small dividends over the past two years.</p><p>“I think that to some extent, one of the things this year clarified for me relative to free agency to trades is that I think our approach to free agency the last two offseasons, and sort of the overall results we got from that, have been fine,” Cherington said. “If you look up the total, add up the total of these are all the free agents we signed, this is exactly what the total contribution we got was, it’s been fine. But fine’s not going to be good enough.”</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Pirates GM not sure about payroll around Paul Skenes next season

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/pirates-news-paul-skenes-perfect-admission-dominant-rookie-season');   ga('set', 'title', 'Pirates ace Paul Skenes makes ‘perfect’ admission about dominant rookie season');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Pirates-news-Paul-Skenes-makes-perfect-admission-about-dominant-rookie-season.jpg"></figure><h1>Pirates ace Paul Skenes makes ‘perfect’ admission about dominant rookie season</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-09-26T07:25:27-07:00">September 26th, 7:25am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-09-26T07:25:27-07:00">September 26th, 7:25am</time><address><a>Andrew Meyers</a>Andrew Meyers is an avid sports fan with a fondness for Philadelphia teams that rarely love him back. He has two degrees from Quinnipiac University, including a master's in sports journalism. Outside of ClutchPoints, Meyers does play-by-play broadcasting for various colleges in the northeast.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">MLB</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>One of the most incredible rookie seasons for a pitcher in Major League Baseball history is soon ending. Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes will make his final start of the 2024 season this weekend at Yankee Stadium, a chance to showcase his otherworldly talent one last time this year against one of the best teams in baseball.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/pirates-news-paul-skenes-notches-historic-mlb-strikeout-feat">This historic season</a> didn’t start how Skenes wanted. He thought he did enough to earn a spot on the Pirates’ Opening Day roster. He started the year in Triple-A instead, making his MLB debut in mid-May after logging 34 total innings in the minors upon being drafted in July 2023.</p><p>Reflecting on the franchise’s decision to keep him down for the first month of the season, Skenes said it was the <a href="https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/41443457/paul-skenes-says-pirates-made-right-call-bringing-slowly" rel="noopener">right move</a>.</p><p>“I don’t know if there can be a perfect plan, but it was just about perfectly put together,” Skenes said, per the Associated Press.</p><p>The Pirates strategically dropped in extra rest days for <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/pirates-news-paul-skenes-breaks-franchise-record-stood-nearly-90-years">Skenes as he carved his way</a> through major league hitters. He didn’t make a single start on less than five days rest. Regardless of whether that was the reason that kept Skenes fresh, it certainly didn’t hurt his progress.</p><p>He hopes the training wheels will fully come off next year and he can do what he does best with little to no restrictions.</p><p>“Next year, it’s hopefully just going to be ‘take the ball and pitch,'” Skenes said. “So I’m looking forward to that.”</p><p>Skenes enters his 23rd and final start of his rookie season with an 11-3 record, 1.99 ERA and 0.96 WHIP. He has 167 strikeouts in 131 innings with 15 quality starts.</p><h2><b>Skenes ready for full starter’s load in 2025</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Paul-Skenes-Pirates.jpg"><figcaption>Sam Greene / The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK</figcaption></figure><p>Unlike this season, Paul Skenes should get maximum opportunities to take the mound for the Pirates in 2025. He’ll undoubtedly be Pittsburgh’s Opening Day starter and could be in line for 30 starts.</p><p>While Skenes expects to be able to loosen up a bit more, he understands the Pirates will still want to be cautious with his workload. He and the organization seem to have a great understanding of one another. Skenes knows his role and he’s excited about getting more time on the mound.</p><p>“That’s why I’m here, I’m here to pitch,” he said. “So I want to pitch as much as I can. If you shorten the rest period, you can pitch more as the season goes on. I’m looking forward to that. That’s not something that’s going to be a complete 180 next year from how it is this year, but there are going to be a bit fewer restrictions on me.”</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/what-paul-skenes-must-do-beat-jackson-merrill-2024-nl-roy-award">Skenes’ rookie season</a> will end just shy of 140 MLB innings. Maybe that number won’t get to 200 next year, but it’s in the best interest of all parties to see Skenes’ innings increase in 2025.</p><p>That may be dependent on how the Pirates play as a team. Pittsburgh faltered in the second half after flirting with a playoff spot around the All-Star break. That might have factored into the franchise’s decision to pull Skenes before he reached 90 pitches in three of his last six starts. He allowed two earned runs across 16 innings in those starts.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/pirates-news-paul-skenes-mlb-history-heartbreaking-first-loss">Paul Skenes is exactly what the Pirates</a> thought he’d be, probably even more. His best is yet to come and baseball in Pittsburgh is becoming much more enjoyable with a flamethrowing ace at the center of it.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Pirates ace Paul Skenes makes ‘perfect’ admission about dominant rookie season

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/pirates-news-paul-skenes-notches-historic-mlb-strikeout-feat');   ga('set', 'title', 'Pirates’ Paul Skenes notches historic MLB strikeout feat');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Pirates-Paul-Skenes.jpg"></figure><h1>Pirates’ Paul Skenes notches historic MLB strikeout feat</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-09-17T06:46:33-07:00">September 17th, 6:46am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-09-17T09:26:09-07:00">September 17th, 9:26am</time><address><a>Sam DiGiovanni</a>Sam DiGiovanni started at ClutchPoints as an associate editor in 2021 and became the site's Philadelphia 76ers beat reporter ahead of the 2022-23 season. He graduated from Marist College in May of 2022 and has written for TheKnicksWall.com and CenterFieldMarist.com in the past.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">MLB</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Paul Skenes is everything the Pittsburgh Pirates hoped he would be — and more. The 22-year-old is an <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/steelers-news-t-j-watt-mike-tomlin-gush-over-pirates-ace-paul-skenes">ace pitcher from the jump</a>, dominating opposing lineups and making history along the way. Few pitchers are this good, especially this early in their careers.</p><p>Sarah Langs of MLB.com put Skenes’ dominance into historical perspective. Since 1901, only four other pitchers have recorded more strikeouts in their first 21 starts. Skenes has thrown <a href="https://stathead.com/tiny/hziZj" rel="noopener">considerably fewer innings</a> than those ahead of him but has a superior ERA, even when adjusted for the different eras. He also did a better job limiting walks.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">most strikeouts in 1st 21 career app (since at least 1901):</p><p>1995 Hideo Nomo: 188<br>1998 Kerry Wood: 185<br>2002-03 Mark Prior: 166<br>1984 Dwight Gooden: 165<br>2024 Paul Skenes: 158</p><p>— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) <a href="https://twitter.com/SlangsOnSports/status/1835859546125762568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 17, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Not only is Skenes piling up strikeouts, but he’s keeping runs off the board.</p><p>Langs pulled another great stat that showed how great Skenes has been in his debut season in the majors. His 2.07 ERA is the second-best mark through 21 starts since earned runs became an official stat in 1913. Only Steve Rogers has a better mark than him, and Skenes has done it through one whole season.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">lowest ERA in first 21 career app, all starts, since ER official in AL + NL (1913):</p><p>1973-74 Steve Rogers: 1.95<br>2024 Paul Skenes: 2.07 <a href="https://t.co/FYYcUbuEF7">https://t.co/FYYcUbuEF7</a></p><p>— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) <a href="https://twitter.com/SlangsOnSports/status/1835858603523150015?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 17, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><h2><b>Paul Skenes wrapping up historic rookie season for Pirates</b></h2><p>In his latest start, Skenes threw 6.0 innings against the St. Louis Cardinals, striking out seven batters. He has recorded at least six strikeouts in seven-straight starts. He has allowed one run or fewer in four of his last five starts, each of which has gone at least 5.0 innings deep.</p><p>Even with All-Star outfielder Jackson Merrill <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/padres-jackson-merrill-beat-paul-skenes-2024-nl-roy-award">having a wonderful season</a> for the San Diego Padres, Skenes appears to be on track to secure the National League Rookie of the Year award. He has instantly become one of the best pitchers in all of baseball.</p><p>The Pirates are 13-8 in games started by Skenes, and his personal win-loss record is 10-3. The team has other solid starters in Mitch Keller and Jared Jones, the latter of whom turned 23 years old just over a month ago. The future is bright for the Buccos.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Pirates’ Paul Skenes notches historic MLB strikeout feat

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/steelers-news-t-j-watt-mike-tomlin-gush-over-pirates-ace-paul-skenes');   ga('set', 'title', 'Steelers’ T.J. Watt, Mike Tomlin gush over Pirates ace Paul Skenes');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/T.J.-Watt-Mike-Tomlin-gush-over-Pirates-ace-Paul-Skenes.jpg"></figure><h1>Steelers’ T.J. Watt, Mike Tomlin gush over Pirates ace Paul Skenes</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-09-14T07:58:49-07:00">September 14th, 7:58am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-09-14T07:59:11-07:00">September 14th, 7:59am</time><address><a>Benjamin Adducchio</a>Benjamin Adducchio is a journalist and writer with more than a decade of experience in covering sports news. Ben is a passionate sports fan who loves college football, basketball, and the New York Yankees.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">MLB</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Some key figures for the Pittsburgh Steelers are impressed with a player <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/pirates-paul-skenes-sheds-light-on-famed-splinker-pitch">who competes</a> for another Steel City franchise. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin and player T.J Watt love Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes.</p><p>“<a href="https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/jason-mackey/2024/09/14/jason-mackey-pirates-steelers-skenes-impressed-tomlin-watt-mature-approach-nfl/stories/202409130104" rel="noopener">I’m a big fan</a>,” Tomlin said, per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “I’m not only a big fan of the product that he’s putting out, but from what I hear, I’m a big fan of his approach. He’s a young guy with a very mature approach. The consistency of his performance is probably the biggest indication of that.”</p><p>Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt shares his coach’s sentiment about the rookie hurler.</p><p>“Big dude, man,” Watt said. “Cool guy. He’s electric for this whole city, for the team. I’m just excited for his future and the Pirates’ future, as well.”</p><p>Skenes has brought a lot of excitement to the Pirates franchise this season. The team looked to make a run to the postseason, but a dismal August caused the team to free-fall in the National League Central standings. Heading into Sunday’s games, the Pirates hold a 70-77 record. It seems that the Bucs will have at least a few fans cheering them on the rest of the year, in Tomlin and Watt.</p><h2>Steelers looking for success and a trip to the postseason in 2024</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Justin-Fields.jpg"><figcaption>Brett Davis-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Another Pittsburgh franchise <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/3-steelers-overreactions-surprising-victory-falcons">hoping to make the playoffs</a> this year is the Steelers. Pittsburgh started off the campaign on the right foot, with a win over the Atlanta Falcons in Week 1. The Steelers won the game despite <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/steelers-news-mike-tomlin-questionable-russell-wilson-week-2-injury-update">having to start</a> their backup quarterback, Justin Fields.</p><p>Watt had a great game against Atlanta. He finished the contest with a sack, as well as four tackles. Two of those were solo stops. He also recovered a fumble for the team.</p><p>The Steelers have long been the flagship professional sports franchise in the Steel City. The franchise has six Super Bowl championships, and fans want to see the team make the final nearly every year. The Steelers haven’t won the NFL championship since the 2008 season, which was Tomlin’s second with the franchise. A few years later, Tomlin led the team to the final again but lost to the Green Bay Packers.</p><p>The Pirates have not had nearly as much success in recent years. While the franchise does have five World Series championships, the team hasn’t won one since 1979. The Pirates last made the NLCS in 1992, but have had just a few playoff appearances since that season. Pirates fans desperate for success hope that Skenes can lead the team moving forward in future years.</p><p>The Steelers next face the Denver Broncos on Sunday.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Steelers’ T.J. Watt, Mike Tomlin gush over Pirates ace Paul Skenes

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/pirates-paul-skenes-sheds-light-on-famed-splinker-pitch');   ga('set', 'title', 'Pirates’ Paul Skenes sheds light on famed splinker pitch');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Paul-Skenes-sheds-light-on-famed-splinker-pitch-1.jpg"></figure><h1>Pirates’ Paul Skenes sheds light on famed splinker pitch</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-09-11T11:18:06-07:00">September 11th, 11:18am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-09-11T11:18:06-07:00">September 11th, 11:18am</time><address><a>Ryan Bologna</a>Ryan Bologna is an author at ClutchPoints. He studied journalism and communication at UConn.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">MLB</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Pittsburgh Pirates rookie starting pitcher Paul Skenes has taken the baseball world by storm, in part due to his ‘splinker’ pitch, and he <a href="https://twitter.com/awfulannouncing/status/1833887989081977066" rel="noopener">explained how he perfected</a> that pitch during a recent appearance on MLB Network.</p><p>“Yeah, so started throwing it when I got to LSU out of the transfer portal it was one of the projects was to throw a sinker,” Paul Skenes said on MLB Network. “And I found a grip, kind of a split-finger, you know pseudo-split-finger grip from one of my friends and I was trying to throw it off my middle finger at the time, and it was fine, didn’t throw it a whole lot in game. It was fine in college, like whatever. The draft came, and got shut down basically after the College World Series and started throwing again, ramping up to throwing games after the draft and I was playing catch one day, and it basically accidentally came off my index finger and moved how it moves now, and I was basically like, ‘well that was good,’ so I’m gonna keep trying to do that and it stuck.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Paul Skenes talks about his famous 'splinker' on MLB Central this morning.</p><p>"It was fine in college, like whatever…I was playing catch one day, and it basically accidentally came off my index finger and moved how it moves now." <a href="https://t.co/r6IuHwOnl7">pic.twitter.com/r6IuHwOnl7</a></p><p>— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) <a href="https://twitter.com/awfulannouncing/status/1833887989081977066?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 11, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>It is crazy that Skenes developed this pitch after he was selected No. 1 in the 2023 MLB Draft. He was far and away the best prospect in that draft, and he has lived up to the hype, making an immediate impression <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/pirates-news-domingo-german-update">with the Pirates</a>, and starting the All-Star Game for the National League this season, a historic feat. He is one of the favorites for the rookie of the year as well alongside Jackson Merrill of the San Diego Padres.</p><h2><b>Paul Skenes hopes to lead Pirates back to playoffs</b></h2><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/pirates-news-paul-skenes-breaks-franchise-record-stood-nearly-90-years">The Pirates were competitive</a> in the first half of this season, but have fallen off over the second half of the season. It has not been the fault of the pitching staff, as the Pirates’ weak lineup has caught up to them this season and ultimately has them out of the playoff picture. A few nice additions on offense could have Pittsburgh in the playoffs in the near future, as the starting rotation is a strong one.</p><p>Regardless, Skenes is going to be at the top of the rotation, and possibly be a Cy Young contender in 2025 and beyond. The only question will be health, as it is with any starting pitcher.</p><p>It will be an interesting offseason for the Pirates, a team that usually does not spend a lot, but now would be the time to make some additions.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

2024 SEASON STATS
IP	ERA	K	WHIP	WINS
399	1.96	170	0.95	11

2024 SEASON STATS
IP	ERA	K	WHIP	WINS
399	1.96	170	0.95	11

Paul Skenes

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Pirates’ Paul Skenes sheds light on famed splinker pitch

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