MLB No. 1 Draft Pick Skenes Makes Single-A Debut In Bradenton

BRADENTON, FL — The 2023 No. 1 Major League Baseball draft pick Paul Skenes made his Single-A debut at Bradenton’s LECOM Park Tuesday night.

When the pitcher took the mound for the Pittsburgh Pirates affiliate the Bradenton Marauders, he struck out two batters in a 16-pitch scoreless inning, according to MLB.com. He threw 11 strikes total in the team’s 14-13 win over the Lakeland Flying Tigers. His pitches reached a speed of 100 mph once and 99 mph five times during the game.

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“Coming into it, talking with the pitching coach and our catchers and all the people who are looking after my development, it was a point of emphasis to throw the sinker and breaking balls more,” he told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Next outing is probably gonna be more changeups because I threw one of them combined between this outing and the last one. But I’m super happy with it.”

Skenes made his first overall appearance for the Pirates Aug. 10 when playing for the Rookie-level Florida Coast League Pirates. The right-hander struck out all three batters he faced, MLB.com said.

The pitcher, who hails from California, first played for the United States Air Force Academy before transferring to Louisiana State University, Patch previously reported. LSU won the national championship title in June.