Who is Paul Skenes?

If you are a casual MLB fan and are tuning into the All-Star game, you may be wondering who the guy is starting for the National League. You may glance down and see he has just 4 wins and 8 losses and think that something is wrong with your eyes. But I assure you, your eyes are working fine.

If you look a little more, you may also notice he has a 2.01 ERA. This is the best ERA in the league at the moment. The fact that he plays for the Pirates is why his Win/Loss record is so bad. His losses are usually very low scoring games where the Pirates failed to score many runs. In baseball terms they call this “run support”.

Although his team manages to find ways to lose games where he dominates, his talent has not gone unnoticed by MLB. This is his second All Star appearance in as many years. Last season he pasted a 11-3 W/L with a stellar 1.96 ERA. The guy is only 23 years old!

This kid is a giant too. At 6’6″ and 260 lbs. he towers over hitters. He uses his long body as leverage and has natural arm strength. The Pirates knew what they were doing when they selected him #1 overall in the 2023 MLB draft out of LSU.

College

He had a historic season, going 13-2 with a 1.69 ERA, setting an SEC-record 209 strikeouts in 122.2 innings, and limiting opponents to a .165 batting average. He won the Dick Howser Trophy (national college player of the year), SEC Pitcher of the Year, and was named the College World Series Most Outstanding Player after leading LSU to the 2023 championship.

Contract

Right out of the gate the Pirates gave him a $9M bonus to welcome him to the organization. His current contract is just for this year and is just $875K. You can bet that the big dogs of the MLB are going to come after him with everything they have but the Pirates have him under control until 2030. If the Pirates deal him away, you can bet this will enrage Pirates fans and bring more validity to the half-joking claim that small market teams like the Pirates are just feeder programs for teams like the Yankees, Red Sox and Dodgers.

Featured Pitches

Skenes relies on a seven-pitch arsenal, including a four-seam fastball (averaging 98 mph, touching 102), two-seam fastball, cutter, sinker, slider, curveball, and his signature “splinker” (a splitter-sinker hybrid). His pitches have elite movement, with a 2025 average exit velocity against him at 88 mph and a 4.9% barrel rate.

Paul Skenes Betting Odds

NL Cy Young

Zack Wheeler -135

Paul Skenes +135

Christopher Sanchez +1000

— odds can be found and wagered at SportsBetting.ag