Jim Sankey: Extra Innings: Shelton ignores ironclad plan, tarnishes Skenes debut

May 14—Ten months and two days after the Pittsburgh Pirates drafted the generational phenom pitcher and later given him a record $9.2 million to sign on the dotted line, Paul Skenes took a major-league mound at PNC Park, surrounded by hoopla never matched before by the Black and Gold.

Little did we know last March that he would make his initial major league appearance as arguably the second-best hurler in a Pirates uniform, as 22-year-old Jared Jones has done more than anyone expected in his eight starts, with his "wow" performances so far masked by a 2-4 record.

That a current favorite to win the National League rookie award has so far outshone Skenes is not Skenes' fault. Perhaps had Skenes joined Jones on the Opening Day roster, his statistics would be impressive enough to be the Bucs' clear-cut top pitcher.

But the Pirates let Skenes languish in the minor leagues 28 days longer than necessary to keep him from accruing enough days in the majors to earn one year of service time in 2024.

Jones and Skenes came to Bradenton in February as fellow rookies. But while Jones traveled a path that him ready to join the starting rotation on Opening Day, the Pirates micromanaged and buttonholed Skenes from day one, prohibiting him from being ready to start during the season's first 40 games — one-fourth of the season.

It was "the Plan."

Pirates fans know all about the organization's "Plan" for getting players to the big leagues.

The greater the potential, the longer "the plan," complete with "boxes to check off," even though they might be boxes nobody has ever heard of.

They have "the Plan" for everyone, with Skenes' blueprint dragged out so long that we were sure that on the first day in the majors, baseball would forego rules and just enshrine him into Cooperstown.

In 2021, their top pick was Henry Davis, the savior-in-waiting for a catcher-less organization, a star promised to be fast-tracked. He was so ready that in two years they brought this catching phenom to Pittsburgh ... to play right field. He had checked off every box except how to catch and how to hit. Roansy Contreras and Luis Ortiz burst on the scene in 2022 with such promise that the organization found plans to alter their delivery enough to banish Ortiz to the bullpen. The did an even better job with Contreras, changing him enough to be able to DFA him over the weekend.

But their "Plan" with both Jones and Skenes was to squeeze them into such rigid boxes that Jones was pulled after throwing 50 of 59 pitches in five innings for strikes. That was the pre-game innings limit, and you know, you don't ignore "the Plan."

The "Plan' was even more frustrating for Skenes, who well could have been building up pitches getting out major-league batters, instead of breezing unchallenged by lesser talent in the minor leagues.

In seven AAA starts, Skenes had a pristine 0.99 ERA, striking out 45 batsmen in 27 1/3 innings, failing to give up a run until his fifth start of the season. However, his innings pitched were cut in those seven starts were 3, 3, 3 1/3, 3 1/3, 4 1/3, 6 and 4 1/3.

He never threw more than 75 pitches in a AAA game, and that was just once. "The Plan," you know.

You never vary "the Plan." Never. Period.

So when Skenes had thrown 74 pitches in four innings in his major-league debut last Saturday, everyone knew that there would be no way Skenes would continue. Skenes would leave to bask in a four-inning boffo first impression and a 6-1 lead.

His 74 pitches dazzled with 17 strikes above 100 mph; in all he had given up one run on four hits, a hit batter and two walks. Take a seat, young man, and enjoy your compelling performance.

But for the first time, manager Derek Shelton abandoned "the Plan": Skenes surprisingly came out for the fifth and immediately gave up a double and a single. A shaky bullpen allowed both runs to score, dampening a sensational debut to a pedestrian 84 pitches thrown and three runs given up on eight hits in four-plus innings leaving him with a 6.75 ERA for the day.

A bullpen that walked in six runs in an inning, a rain delay almost long enough to watch "The Titanic" and questionable managing tarnished an otherwise stellar start to a career.

JIM SANKEY is the Pittsburgh Pirates columnist for Allied News. His work appears in the form of the 'Extra Innings' columns that run during the baseball season.

JIM SANKEY is the Pittsburgh Pirates columnist for Allied News. His work appears in the form of the 'Extra Innings' columns that run during the baseball season.