For a young player like Skenes, there's a benefit to pitching in September

Paul Skenes admits the months that followed his selection with the No. 1 overall pick in last year's MLB Draft brought forth a weird situation. From mid-February until the College World Series in June, Skenes went from pitching in an LSU uniform to being shut down for a few weeks following the draft. He then ramped up to throw just 6 2/3 innings between three minor-league affiliates before ultimately ending the year via a second shutdown. 

A year later, Skenes fully understands the importance of being on a major-league mound during the final month of the season, regardless of whether or not the Pirates are playing meaningful September baseball. He knows that in his first year handling the increased workload associated with pitching at the professional level, every chance he gets to toe the rubber is valuable. 

"That's one of the big things of this season, just getting used to how long the season is, because it's super important to be used to that to have a better plan for the offseason and all the seasons going forward, so that it's not a shock to my system," Skenes said Thursday night. "If we're making the season longer incrementally, I think that's a lot worse than making the season longer one time, which as frustrating as it was at the beginning of the season with starting in Triple-A and the innings limit there, I don't think we could have done it any better."

What makes this late-season experience even more important is the fact that Skenes isn't like most players experiencing their first full-time taste of pro ball. For one, not many first-year pros have had the immediate success of Skenes, a legitimate National League Rookie of the Year candidate with an 8-2 record and a sparkling 2.16 ERA that actually went down with his performance in the Pirates' 7-0 win over the Reds Thursday night at PNC Park. 

What also makes him unique is the fact that, at the age of 22, Skenes is going through the challenges of a long professional season as a top-tier major-league pitcher rather than a minor leaguer. It's a much tougher test that Skenes has so far passed with flying colors. 

"You look at a majority, if not 95% of major-league players, not just major-league pitchers who are doing it, they have at least one season in the minor leagues if not two seasons," Derek Shelton said. "What he's doing is something that's very different, it's very special. It's something where we also have to be very mindful of. He's learning how to pitch on Aug. 22. He's gonna learn how to pitch in September, all those things. Most guys get the opportunity to do multiple seasons in the minor leagues and he's not. That's what we have to be mindful of -- what he's done, what he's doing, all those things." 

While keeping Skenes active down the stretch is important, the Pirates also want to be mindful when it comes to his starts over the next six weeks. A shutdown isn't on the horizon, according to Shelton, but workload limitations may come into play for Skenes, who has already been pitching on five or six days' rest rather than the normal four days' rest, a measure that will likely continue as the season progresses. 

“There is no immediate plan to shut him down, there has never been any immediate plans to shut him down," Shelton said prior to Thursday's game. "How we monitor that, whether it’s an innings limit or a workload limit per game, we’ll be thoughtful about that. We won’t really probably talk about it because it can become a competitive advantage on the other side of it, but we are thinking about it.” 

With six scoreless innings in which he allowed just two hits, walked a batter and struck out nine against the Reds Thursday, Skenes' innings total for this season has already surpassed the 129 1/3 innings he pitched last year between LSU (122 2/3 innings), the Florida Complex League Pirates (1 inning), Class A Bradenton (3 innings) and Class AA Altoona (2 2/3 innings). 

Skenes began this season by throwing 27 1/3 innings in seven starts for Class AAA Indianapolis before immediately inserting himself into a prominent role within the big-league rotation. He's provided six-plus innings in 14 of his 17 major-league starts and now sits at 104 innings pitched in a Pirates uniform. In total, he's currently sitting at 131 1/3 innings pitched this season. And, in response to a question I asked him following this latest quality start -- his 13th of the season -- and eighth big-league win, Skenes said he's feeling good at a time of the year in which he's never pitched before. 

"I think we've learned as we've gone along," Skenes said. "I'm comfortable with the work I've put in over the offseason and at the beginning of the season to this point. But feeling good."

Skenes had to be feeling even better after this latest performance in which he held the Reds at bay for six innings before turning things over to Ben Heller and Hunter Stratton to shut the door over three scoreless. Skenes threw 53 of his 87 pitches for strikes and allowed just three baserunners to reach on singles by Spencer Steer and Amed Rosario and a first-inning walk to Elly De La Cruz, who eventually became the victim of Skenes' devastating pickoff move for the second time this season. Skenes now has four of these this year: 

"Definitely nice he didn't get to steal and get to second, because a hit with him at second is a run," Skenes said of De La Cruz, who leads Major League Baseball with 60 stolen bases. "Nice to keep him off second base."

Skenes was heavily reliant on a three-pitch combo that included his four-seam fastball, splinker and slider. He went to his fastball 34 times, averaging around 99 mph with it, and attacked the zone with it. His usage netted quality results with three whiffs and 11 called strikes. 

"One of those things where the command of it was there today, so we had to lean on it a little bit more," Skenes said. "Just worked out well."

When you couple Skenes' outstanding rookie campaign with the fact that the Pirates have a less than 1% chance of securing a postseason berth, it makes sense as to why these workload discussions are ongoing. A player of Skenes' caliber is worth monitoring, especially when late-season games have less meaning. There has to be awareness to the fact that he's now reached uncharted territory in terms of innings pitched, but there's also an obvious advantage to building him up and providing him opportunities to grow as a young pitcher. 

“Obviously the health and being healthy is important, but pitching into September, late into September is important because you don’t know what it’s like until you do it," Shelton said. "You don’t know what it’s like to make your final couple starts in September, whenever they are, to realize, ‘Hey man, this is a long season and this is what you’ve got to prepare for.’ I think on both sides it’s really important for any young player to get to do that."