Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes has lived up to sky-high expectations since breaking into the bigs last season, putting together a 14-5 record with a miniscule 2.06 ERA and 0.914 WHIP trhough 29 career starts. He also established himself as one of the biggest stars in the game, creating intrigue both on the mound and off. At just 22 years old, he has the potential to dominate for the next decade and perhaps for most of the decade after that.
One does not get to this point without carrying a healthy amount of confidence and in a new profile by Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci, Skenes dives into his desire to keep pushing radar guns into the triple digits for as long as he possibly can.
“I’m trying to know more than anybody else,” Skenes says. “There is an element of chance to it. There’s also an element to do everything you can and know your body. And I think that a lot of people they just don’t know what they don’t know. I’m trying to be the first guy to do these things, right?”
Someday he wants people to look back and study what he did to throw so hard for so long, the way he thinks today of [Gerrit] Cole and [Justin] Verlander.
“Yeah, that’s the goal,” he says. “Nobody in the big leagues has my stuff. We’re writing our own book. Because I’ve tried it the other way. It doesn’t work. It’s my game out there. There is no model for me.”
These quotes come amid a piece that explores how Skenes is pushing the physical limitations and velocity against a backdrop where Major League pitchers are likely to encounter arm issues due to the strain. It's a fascinating look at how Skenes and other hard throwers seek to avoid this fate while not taking their foot off the gas.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Paul Skenes Knows No One Else in the Big Leagues Has His Stuff.