Giants to get first look at top prospect Skenes with series on line

Giants to get first look at top prospect Skenes with series on line originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO -- The expectations for Paul Skenes are as high as it gets, but last Friday he somehow exceeded them.

In his second MLB start, Skenes struck out 11 in six no-hit innings at Wrigley Field. A couple of days later, with the Giants packing up for a trip to face the Pittsburgh Pirates, manager Bob Melvin was asked if he watched a performance that was the talk of baseball.

"I don't want to," Melvin said, smiling. "I heard about it."

On their final day at PNC Park on Thursday, the Giants will see it in person, and they'll have to solve Skenes to get a series victory. One of the game's top prospects has made two starts so far, allowing three runs and striking out 18 in 10 innings. In seven Triple-A starts, he posted a 1.32 ERA with 45 strikeouts in 27 1/3 innings.

Skenes has faced only the Cubs through his two big league starts, and because he's just a year removed from pitching for LSU and had his spring training in Florida, the Giants have no experience with him. Matt Chapman went to the same high school -- El Toro in Southern California -- but was years ahead of Skenes and said they haven't met. Two of the organization's top prospects -- Reggie Crawford and Carson Whisenhunt -- were on the same Team USA roster in 2021, but both are still in Triple-A.

None of the current Giants have faced Skenes before, but there isn't much mystery. In his second start, Skenes relied primarily on his fastball and splitter, both of which are at the top of the charts in terms of velocity. He has averaged 99.7 mph in the big leagues and topped out at 101.9, and his 100th and final pitch on Friday was a 100-mph fastball to strike out former Giants outfielder Mike Tauchman. Skenes' splitter has averaged about 95 mph, and he has given up just one hit on the pitch through two starts.

"It has looked good, really good," Melvin told reporters in Pittsburgh on Wednesday. "This guy today [Jared Jones] is no day at the beach, either. There are two really good pitchers we're facing the next two nights, and that's something this organization should feel really good about with some of the young players, including [Oneil] Cruz. There are a lot of guys here that would suggest good days are coming for the Pirates."

The young pitchers have the Pirates dreaming big after some very difficult years, something that has been a trend for an organization that has made a habit of trading stars away. The Pirates lost 100 games in back-to-back campaigns before going 76-86 last season, but the reward for that second awful season was Skenes, who was an easy pick at No. 1 overall in last year's MLB draft.

Ten months later, he's already atop an MLB rotation, and while Thursday will be a huge challenge for Giants hitters, Melvin said it's the type of game they should be excited about.

"Those are the kind of guys that you have to kind of embrace and get up for," he said. "There's something to being motivated for really good pitchers. That's something everybody kind of has to embrace."

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