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USA Today Sports Media Group

Sport

Andrew Joseph

Paul Skenes absolutely wowed MLB fans with an electric three-pitch strikeout of Shohei Ohtani

Paul Skenes Shohei Ohtani MLB Dodgers

Through his first four MLB starts, former No. 1 overall pick Paul Skenes looked every bit the part of an elite pitcher. That remained true in his first appearance against Shohei Ohtani and that star-powered top of the Dodgers’ lineup.

Starting for the Pirates on Wednesday against the Dodgers, Skenes cruised through his first test against Mookie Betts, Ohtani and Freddie Freeman. But that Ohtani matchup was truly something else. Skenes didn’t take a cautious approach against the reigning AL MVP. Instead, he went right at Ohtani with three straight triple-digit fastballs.

Not many pitchers can make Ohtani look ordinary. Skenes did just that in the at-bat.

Paul Skenes Annihilating Shohei Ohtani. 😳 pic.twitter.com/ZCEum3SPGx

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) June 5, 2024

Between that velocity and location, there wasn’t much Ohtani could do. The three-pitch strikeout justifiably had MLB fans in awe.

This was how Twitter/X reacted

Baseball: “hitting is at an all time low, why is this??”
Skenes: *does this*
Baseball: “ah” https://t.co/LiR5h8Sr76

— Kyle Bonn (@the_bonnfire) June 5, 2024

“Ever seen a guy get a standing ovation leaving the mound in the 1st inning?” https://t.co/7hEOpIkffy pic.twitter.com/aExoyvFHWz

— James Santelli (@JamesSantelli) June 5, 2024

YO WHAT https://t.co/8i1cu8N5T9

— Kiley McDaniel (@kileymcd) June 5, 2024

Paul Skenes is the sandman Metallica sang about in 1991, it's prophecy https://t.co/1Mwxfu2XIX

— Taylor Blake Ward (@TaylorBlakeWard) June 5, 2024

gave him the cheese…hot stinky cheddar https://t.co/eYF74n0d6P

— Julian Garcia (@terpsu) June 5, 2024

lordt https://t.co/UZlnx4JTha

— Mike Golic Jr (@mikegolicjr) June 5, 2024

What the…. https://t.co/zE8lRhqNP5 pic.twitter.com/xuiwxtiF30

— Tyler Jennings (@TylerJennings24) June 5, 2024

Baseball is hard https://t.co/s2fPPZVoK5

— JP Acosta (@acosta32_jp) June 5, 2024

The only 2 guys to throw 9 pitches at 100+ MPH in the first inning of a game this year are Paul Skenes and Paul Skenes. https://t.co/Y1Fi9tCxkD

— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) June 5, 2024

Yeah, Paul Skenes is no joke.

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