Paul Skenes' electric MLB debut: Seven strikeouts in four innings – and a 102-mph fastball

Electric. Occasionally dominant. And ultimately, just a tease to coming attractions.

Paul Skenes brought the most dominant fastball in baseball to his major league debut Saturday afternoon, before a full house at PNC Park that came to see the 6-foot-6 rookie who offers more hope than the Pittsburgh Pirates have seen in years.

And from his first strikeout on a 101-mph fastball to the standing ovation the crowd of 34,924 offered him upon his exit, Skenes did not disappoint.

Oh, he did not walk away from his first career start with a win. The Pirates have been carefully monitoring his buildup and his workload and, from that standpoint, Saturday was just the next episode. So when manager Derek Shelton removed him after 84 pitches, with a five-run lead two batters into the top of the fifth inning, the crowd did not boo.

Rather, they saluted the glimpse of power pitching Skenes offered, and the launch of a highly promising career.

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Skenes, drafted No. 1 overall out of LSU less than a year ago, struck out seven Chicago Cubs in four-plus innings Saturday and was lifted from the game with a 6-1 lead. His afternoon ended on an infield single from Seiya Suzuki, the sixth hit he yielded. And his pitching line will reflect three earned runs given up, with reliever Kyle Nicolas walking three batters and hitting another, allowing both of Skenes’ runners left on base to score.

The Pirates, ruining their own narratives for the better part of three decades, did not shy away from that fate on this day, as Josh Fleming and Nicolas combined to enable the Cubs to tie the score 6-6 without a single ball leaving the infield.

And then came a torrential downpour, umpires calling a delay just one out shy of it becoming an official game. The Pirates walked in two more runs upon the game's resumption, yet somehow survived to claim a 10-9 victory over the Cubs.

Hours earlier, before getting the hook, Skenes showed off a startling repertoire.

He threw 24 pitches of at least 100 mph, topping out at 102 in the first inning. He flashed a wipeout slider and a highly effective split-finger fastball, which averaged 96 mph and that Skenes was confident throwing in any count – even to get a strike in a 3-0 situation.

The crowd roared when leadoff batter Mike Tauchman fouled a 101-mph fastball into the mitt of catcher Yasmani Grandal for Skenes’ first career strikeout. He blew away Suzuki on three pitches, two of them sliders.

And when he ran into trouble in the second inning, loading the bases on a hit batter, walk and single, Skenes simply reached back and caught Yan Gomes looking at a 101-mph fastball. He got Tauchman to ground to second on the same pitch.

That helped drive Skenes’ pitch count higher, another internal battle he’ll fight in his young career – dominant strikeout totals vs. manageable pitch counts.

An 11-pitch third inning helped that cause, but he gave up a one-out, first-pitch home run to Nico Hoerner, who hooked a slider into the first row of the left field stands.

Skenes still struck out the side, Ian Happ on a 100-mph fastball, Michael Busch on a slider and Gomes on a split-finger. He notched an impressive 52% whiff and called strike percentage on his splitter.

From an aesthetic standpoint, the day was a huge success, before the rains came. Fans clad in Skenes jerseys filled the stands and Skenes’ family, along with girlfriend Livvy Dunne, watched from a box on the second level.

Dunne, the social media maven and national champion gymnast from LSU, and Skenes are just starting out in Pittsburgh, both having spent precious little time there before Skenes’ recall this week.

Saturday looked a good bit like the start of a love affair between the player and city.

“Pittsburgh has been so supportive. The support here is unreal,” Dunne said in a midgame interview on the Pirates’ TV broadcast. “I have the most confidence in him, ever. I know how hard he has worked for this moment.”

Skenes knew it would not be as easy as his epic junior year at LSU, when he struck out a staggering 209 batters in 122⅔ innings. But we learned this much Saturday: His stuff absolutely plays at the major league level.

Even if he hasn’t been totally unleashed.