Friday Insider: The invented Skenes arm-slot crisis
There aren't many mysteries in Major League Baseball, if only because, in that particular orbit, everyone's trying to convince everyone that they've already got all the answers.
Prominent case in point: Early this season, when Paul Skenes emerged firing his fastballs at something less than his standard superhuman velocities, his slightly lowered arm slot became a subject of conversation from social media to the nightly network shows.
Examples abound, actually. I could've shared a bunch here, including from a couple of the bigger-named pitching analysts. All accompanied by analytical-sounding answers that suggested that he wasn't aware it was happening, that he was aware but willfully pitching to contact or, the predictable winner, the Pirates are screwing him up.
Now, none of those answers came from Skenes since, as it turns out, nobody'd asked him about this until I brought it up this week at PNC Park, just before the Pirates' ongoing trip through Phoenix and San Diego.
My truncated version of his response: No. To all of the above.
The more elaborate and enlightening version, as he'd lay out for me:
• Of course he was aware. This kid's aware of the most microscopic minutiae of his pitching, and he's been that way forever. Now, armed with more access to more advanced information than at any stage of his career, he's dived in that much deeper.
• The arm slot was, in fact, slightly lower, through parts of April. Affected nothing related to his stuff or command or arsenal versatility, per the data he's seen. So, even now that the arm slot's back up to the 2024 height and he's back to freak-show territory with 24 strikeouts over his past three starts, nothing of significance has changed. Notably the results themselves, unless one weighs the difference between being excellent in April (2.23 ERA, 0.77 WHIP, 32 Ks in 32 1/3 innings) and more excellent in May (1.91 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 38 strikeouts in 37 2/3 innings).
• So, why even the temporary dip? Skenes told me, flatly, it's something he'll need to monitor throughout his career. He's a big dude. Long arms. Lots of moving parts. As a result, unlike a smaller starting pitcher like Jared Jones, the example I brought up, he'll always have some maintenance at hand mechanically.
I'm guessing he'll have those answers, too.
MORE PIRATES
• Don Kelly doesn't have the interim tag, and there's a reason for that: The owner of the franchise doesn't see him as an interim anything. Bob Nutting loves Kelly. Doesn't want to lose him. Doesn't intend to lose him. Read into that as one will.
• Nutting ordered the firing of Derek Shelton. If he hadn't, I'm told, Shelton would've been in place for at least another couple of weeks, depending on the team's performance.
• Don't think for a second that any new GM will be put off by being told Kelly's his manager. Kelly's universally respected throughout the game and, besides, even if viewing the scenario cynically, most new GMs welcome having someone else who gets fired before they do.
• I know of two candidates to become the Pirates' GM in the future. They're immensely qualified, and both currently work for highly successful American League operations. And heck no, I can't name them. But I share this to underscore that there's nothing sillier than the oft-expressed notion that no one would want the job. There are only 30 of them on the planet, and there's only one where there's a Skenes.
• Speaking of silly, oft-expressed notions, it's been nice to sense that one of them's dying the gory death it deserved all along: Adam Frazier's name never should've been twinned with Tommy Pham's. They're nothing alike, and I'm not just saying that because Frazier's amassed a dozen hits in his past eight games to raise his season slash line to .255/.330/.338. Rather, it's because Frazier's been a model teammate, always upbeat, always offering help such as the singular advice that's helped Henry Davis get back to pulling the ball, per Davis himself. They're not alike, Frazier and Pham. They never were.
STEELERS
• The players don't necessarily know Aaron Rodgers is coming, based on conversations I had this week at OTAs on the South Side. But they know he's wanted, certainly by Mike Tomlin. And as such, they've got no choice, if one thinks about it, but to stay silent and neutral. Which they're very much doing.
• From everything I know, the only position Omar Khan prefers to still address from the outside is -- blare the trumpets -- the second wide receiver spot. Anything that's seen, heard or read anywhere about any other positions should be disregarded. Even at slot corner, the internal sentiment is that there are sufficient numbers from which to select a camp winner.
• Two biggest changes among any of the attendees at OTAs, from the spoken-word and physical appearance standpoints: Broderick Jones and Roman Wilson. And not necessarily in that order. Jones has dropped a few, and Wilson's bulked up a bit. But beyond that, both came across as more confident than I can recall from either. Good for them.
• I'll never be the one to over-read into drills at OTAs, so I'll keep this simple and leave it sit where it is: Kaleb Johnson's going to get a real opportunity to be a real contributor. And within that, he'll have no issue soaking it up.
PENGUINS
• Hockey news will be scant until Kyle Dubas selects his head coach. I know little more than what Taylor Haasereported for us last night related to Mitch Love, a respected assistant with the Capitals, and that little is this: Dubas would much, much rather go young. He's never wholly ruled out older coaches, even obvious retreads, but that's not where he wants to wind up.
• The day was always going to arrive that one of the Core would retire, or even just set a stage for that retirement. Evgeni Malkin's the only one entering the final year of his contract, so all eyes will be on him in this regard into the fall. Now, he hasn't offered the tiniest hint as to his intentions, but I'm positive of this much: If he has a say, he'd passionately prefer to finish in Pittsburgh. Partly because of the legacy, the city and all that, but also partly because he's always taken personal pride in his connection with Sidney Crosby. Even in being Sid's elder by a year. (That's why he takes to the ice last, behind Sid, because of the seniority he accrued in Russia before coming over.) It'll be fascinating to see how it plays out.
• Erik Karlsson wouldn't resist if Dubas tried to trade him. He's got the no-movement clause and all that, so he could. But he wouldn't.
• Thanks so much for reading our franchise feature. And for supporting what we do here.
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THE ASYLUM
Dejan Kovacevic
4:30 am - 05.30.2025DowntownFriday Insider: The invented Skenes arm-slot crisis
There aren't many mysteries in Major League Baseball, if only because, in that particular orbit, everyone's trying to convince everyone that they've already got all the answers.
Prominent case in point: Early this season, when Paul Skenes emerged firing his fastballs at something less than his standard superhuman velocities, his slightly lowered arm slot became a subject of conversation from social media to the nightly network shows.
This was one:
Examples abound, actually. I could've shared a bunch here, including from a couple of the bigger-named pitching analysts. All accompanied by analytical-sounding answers that suggested that he wasn't aware it was happening, that he was aware but willfully pitching to contact or, the predictable winner, the Pirates are screwing him up.
Now, none of those answers came from Skenes since, as it turns out, nobody'd asked him about this until I brought it up this week at PNC Park, just before the Pirates' ongoing trip through Phoenix and San Diego.
My truncated version of his response: No. To all of the above.
The more elaborate and enlightening version, as he'd lay out for me:
• Of course he was aware. This kid's aware of the most microscopic minutiae of his pitching, and he's been that way forever. Now, armed with more access to more advanced information than at any stage of his career, he's dived in that much deeper.
• The arm slot was, in fact, slightly lower, through parts of April. Affected nothing related to his stuff or command or arsenal versatility, per the data he's seen. So, even now that the arm slot's back up to the 2024 height and he's back to freak-show territory with 24 strikeouts over his past three starts, nothing of significance has changed. Notably the results themselves, unless one weighs the difference between being excellent in April (2.23 ERA, 0.77 WHIP, 32 Ks in 32 1/3 innings) and more excellent in May (1.91 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 38 strikeouts in 37 2/3 innings).
• So, why even the temporary dip? Skenes told me, flatly, it's something he'll need to monitor throughout his career. He's a big dude. Long arms. Lots of moving parts. As a result, unlike a smaller starting pitcher like Jared Jones, the example I brought up, he'll always have some maintenance at hand mechanically.
I'm guessing he'll have those answers, too.
MORE PIRATES
• Don Kelly doesn't have the interim tag, and there's a reason for that: The owner of the franchise doesn't see him as an interim anything. Bob Nutting loves Kelly. Doesn't want to lose him. Doesn't intend to lose him. Read into that as one will.
• Nutting ordered the firing of Derek Shelton. If he hadn't, I'm told, Shelton would've been in place for at least another couple of weeks, depending on the team's performance.
• Don't think for a second that any new GM will be put off by being told Kelly's his manager. Kelly's universally respected throughout the game and, besides, even if viewing the scenario cynically, most new GMs welcome having someone else who gets fired before they do.
• I know of two candidates to become the Pirates' GM in the future. They're immensely qualified, and both currently work for highly successful American League operations. And heck no, I can't name them. But I share this to underscore that there's nothing sillier than the oft-expressed notion that no one would want the job. There are only 30 of them on the planet, and there's only one where there's a Skenes.
• Speaking of silly, oft-expressed notions, it's been nice to sense that one of them's dying the gory death it deserved all along: Adam Frazier's name never should've been twinned with Tommy Pham's. They're nothing alike, and I'm not just saying that because Frazier's amassed a dozen hits in his past eight games to raise his season slash line to .255/.330/.338. Rather, it's because Frazier's been a model teammate, always upbeat, always offering help such as the singular advice that's helped Henry Davis get back to pulling the ball, per Davis himself. They're not alike, Frazier and Pham. They never were.
STEELERS
• The players don't necessarily know Aaron Rodgers is coming, based on conversations I had this week at OTAs on the South Side. But they know he's wanted, certainly by Mike Tomlin. And as such, they've got no choice, if one thinks about it, but to stay silent and neutral. Which they're very much doing.
• From everything I know, the only position Omar Khan prefers to still address from the outside is -- blare the trumpets -- the second wide receiver spot. Anything that's seen, heard or read anywhere about any other positions should be disregarded. Even at slot corner, the internal sentiment is that there are sufficient numbers from which to select a camp winner.
• Two biggest changes among any of the attendees at OTAs, from the spoken-word and physical appearance standpoints: Broderick Jones and Roman Wilson. And not necessarily in that order. Jones has dropped a few, and Wilson's bulked up a bit. But beyond that, both came across as more confident than I can recall from either. Good for them.
• I'll never be the one to over-read into drills at OTAs, so I'll keep this simple and leave it sit where it is: Kaleb Johnson's going to get a real opportunity to be a real contributor. And within that, he'll have no issue soaking it up.
PENGUINS
• Hockey news will be scant until Kyle Dubas selects his head coach. I know little more than what Taylor Haase reported for us last night related to Mitch Love, a respected assistant with the Capitals, and that little is this: Dubas would much, much rather go young. He's never wholly ruled out older coaches, even obvious retreads, but that's not where he wants to wind up.
• The day was always going to arrive that one of the Core would retire, or even just set a stage for that retirement. Evgeni Malkin's the only one entering the final year of his contract, so all eyes will be on him in this regard into the fall. Now, he hasn't offered the tiniest hint as to his intentions, but I'm positive of this much: If he has a say, he'd passionately prefer to finish in Pittsburgh. Partly because of the legacy, the city and all that, but also partly because he's always taken personal pride in his connection with Sidney Crosby. Even in being Sid's elder by a year. (That's why he takes to the ice last, behind Sid, because of the seniority he accrued in Russia before coming over.) It'll be fascinating to see how it plays out.
• Erik Karlsson wouldn't resist if Dubas tried to trade him. He's got the no-movement clause and all that, so he could. But he wouldn't.
• Thanks so much for reading our franchise feature. And for supporting what we do here.
Want to participate in our comments?
Want an ad-free experience?
Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits! Make your voice heard on the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates, and hear right back from tens of thousands of fellow Pittsburgh sports fans worldwide! Plus, access all our premium content, including Dejan Kovacevic columns, Friday Insider, daily Live Qs with the staff, more! And yeah, that's right, no ads at all!
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