Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton had front row tickets to the Paul Skenes show throughout the 2024 MLB season, and he was clearly impressed by what he saw.
Skenes didn't debut in MLB until May, and made only 23 starts throughout the season, but he's already on the track to stardom after taking the league by storm as a rookie. During a recent appearance on The Chris Rose Rotation, Shelton was asked about Skenes's early dominance, and he offered a bold claim about the potential of the flame-throwing right-hander.
"Yeah, I mean, he's impressive. If you've been around him at all as a human being... he's so talented. The way he carries himself, the way he presents himself, it's definitely special," said Shelton.
Host Chris Rose then asked if it was possible that Skenes was the best young pitcher in the last 40 to 50 years.
"Yeah, I think he has all the tools and I definitely think he's in the conversation... I think with the tools he has, the mindset he has, the way he works, he's definitely in that conversation with the best young pitchers we've seen over the last 40 years. The pure stuff is as good as I've seen at this young of an age since I've been in the big leagues," Shelton said.
Derek Shelton says Paul Skenes is “in the conversation” for being the best young pitcher in the last 50 years pic.twitter.com/QQydcYxY09
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) February 10, 2025
Despite starting just 23 games last season, Skenes, 22, finished third in NL Cy Young voting. He started the All-Star Game for the National League after making just 11 starts. He ended the campaign with a 1.96 ERA and 170 strikeouts across 133 innings on the mound.
Skenes has all the makings of a generational talent, and it seems his manager is well aware of that heading into his second season in the bigs.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Paul Skenes Receives Major Praise From Pirates Manager After Impressive Rookie Season.
