MLB.com in-depth article on Paul Skenes’ pitch arsenal

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FASTBALL It’s the fastball heard ‘round the Minors. The LSU legend has thrown 112 heaters through his first four starts and averaged 100.2 mph, making it the fastest pitch in Triple-A. He’s eclipsed triple-digits 74 different times. No one else in Triple-A has hit 100 mph more than 24 times as of Saturday. Expand that to the Majors, and only A’s fireballing closer Mason Miller comes close with 64 pitches at 100+ mph.

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SLIDER Skenes has leaned on his fastball 53.3 percent of the time in the early going of 2024, and his most leaned-on secondary is his slider with a 23.8 percent usage rate. There’s a case to be made that the breaker, which averages 86.8 mph, is just as good as its straighter, faster counterpart.

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CHANGEUP Skenes’ splinker gets called a changeup by the Pirates’ internal measurements even though it isn’t because the potential ace has a true one of those too. His version -- thrown with a Vulcan-style grip that splits the ring and middle finger -- dates to his days as a junior in high school, well before the slider took over as his best secondary.

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’SPLINKER’ Fellow No. 1 overall pick Henry Davis referred to Skenes’ “splinker” in Spring Training. Benes says the Indianapolis coaching staff also calls it a splinker. When Koch uses the PitchCom, he calls for a sinker. It has a low 1,807 rpm average spin rate like a splitter. It has a 95.0 mph average velocity and 15.3 inches of average arm-side movement like a sinker.

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CURVEBALL As if four pitches weren’t enough, Skenes has one more hitters need to consider. Or that they need to start considering now anyway.

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