Leading up to the 2023 Major League Baseball Draft, Ben Cherington questioned the analytics behind taking Paul Skenes with the No. 1 overall pick, he said in a recent episode of The Daily, a New York Times podcast.
"We literally kept asking, ‘Can this be right?’ " Cherington told New York Times writer Bruce Schoenfeld. "But it got clear enough in our system that it wasn’t even close. It just became, this is a different type of pitcher, we should probably take him."
During the months before that draft, Cherington told Schoenfeld that the Pirates coveted a hitter and when asked who might've been the No. 1 pick, he answered: "I’d have said I don’t know, but I could tell you it will be a position player. Pitchers are riskier, their amateur success harder to extrapolate to the big leagues and the Pirates already had several young starters. Then, Paul just kept doing extraordinary things."
Skenes went 13-2 during his only year at Louisiana State University, produced a 1.69 ERA, threw 122 2/3 innings and struck out 209 batters while walking just 20 batters. He won numerous accolades including the Dick Howser Trophy, which is given to the nation's top college baseball player. He also led the Tigers to a national championship in the College World Series.
Due to Skenes' success, the Pirates' analytics began projecting the LSU ace as the top pick, which was when Cherington's uncertainty came into play. At that time, Skenes' LSU teammate and current Nationals outfielder, Dylan Crews. The Pirates settled on Skenes and he's proven them right. Over 30 career starts -- he'll make his 31st tonight against the Cardinals -- Skenes has recorded a career 2.15 ERA over 175 2/3 innings. He's also tallied 211 strikeouts and won the National League Rookie of the Year award.
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THE ASYLUM
Greg Macafee
4:32 pm - 05.06.2025DOWNTOWNCherington hesitated on drafting Skenes
Leading up to the 2023 Major League Baseball Draft, Ben Cherington questioned the analytics behind taking Paul Skenes with the No. 1 overall pick, he said in a recent episode of The Daily, a New York Times podcast.
"We literally kept asking, ‘Can this be right?’ " Cherington told New York Times writer Bruce Schoenfeld. "But it got clear enough in our system that it wasn’t even close. It just became, this is a different type of pitcher, we should probably take him."
During the months before that draft, Cherington told Schoenfeld that the Pirates coveted a hitter and when asked who might've been the No. 1 pick, he answered: "I’d have said I don’t know, but I could tell you it will be a position player. Pitchers are riskier, their amateur success harder to extrapolate to the big leagues and the Pirates already had several young starters. Then, Paul just kept doing extraordinary things."
Skenes went 13-2 during his only year at Louisiana State University, produced a 1.69 ERA, threw 122 2/3 innings and struck out 209 batters while walking just 20 batters. He won numerous accolades including the Dick Howser Trophy, which is given to the nation's top college baseball player. He also led the Tigers to a national championship in the College World Series.
Due to Skenes' success, the Pirates' analytics began projecting the LSU ace as the top pick, which was when Cherington's uncertainty came into play. At that time, Skenes' LSU teammate and current Nationals outfielder, Dylan Crews. The Pirates settled on Skenes and he's proven them right. Over 30 career starts -- he'll make his 31st tonight against the Cardinals -- Skenes has recorded a career 2.15 ERA over 175 2/3 innings. He's also tallied 211 strikeouts and won the National League Rookie of the Year award.
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