Paul Skenes from the Pittsburgh Pirates set the franchise rookie record for strikeouts in a season on Monday. He had a great start against the Miami Marlins, spending only one run in six innings for nine strikeouts and one walk. With this, the 22-year-old Skenes took his seasonal strikeout count to 151.
This number breaks the old Pirates rookie record set by Cy Blanton in 1935. With this, he also joined Dwight Gooden, Kerry Wood, and Mark Prior as the only rookie pitchers to strike out 150 or more batters in 20 or fewer starts.
After his contribution to the team’s 3-2 win over Miami, he has now made 20 starts in 2024. In those matches, he’s pitched to a 2.10 ERA with a 2.65 FIP and a K/BB ratio of 4.87. His average innings is six per start this season. He has also given a quality start in 70% of his matches in 2024. The most impressive stat is that he struck out 32.3% of opposing batters. This is a strong number for a starting pitcher.
Here is what he told the reporters after the Monday game.
“It’s a game and I think the biggest thing is focused on being in the moment and staying present. All that other stuff is cool, but I think that’s a product of being in the moment and staying present over the course of the season. Just executing individual pitches and then that kind of shows up when you start tallying that stuff up.”
2024 marks his first full campaign as a professional, even though the Pirates kept him in Triple-A this season until May 11.