Paul Skenes has been so dominant in Triple-A that after his “worst” game of the season his ERA only rose to 0.99.
Skenes allowed his most runs in an outing this season when he gave up two earned runs in 4.1 innings pitched on Sunday. He allowed his first homer, a solo shot from Buffalo’s outfielder Will Robertson, as a professional and surrendered three hit and two walks while recording four strikeouts.
He’s allowed just three earned runs, eight walks and 17 hits with 45 strikeouts through 27.1 innings pitched in Triple-A this season. The game on Sunday was his first time pitching on just four days rest as a professional.
Skenes has seen his pitch count slowly rise as he gets accustomed to professional baseball, and it has reached as high as 75 pitches in a game. Skenes has made it to at least the fifth inning in each of his last three starts after being held to just 3.1 innings pitched per game in his first four starts.
He’s scheduled to pitch again this weekend for Indianapolis, but if he continues to perform at this level, Skenes might make his MLB debut sooner rather than later.
His LSU teammate Dylan Crews is playing in Double-A and hasn’t quite dominated like Skenes has. Crews is batting .230 this season with two homers and 15 RBI. Back in April, Crews had a four-hit, four-RBI night, but he hasn’t been able to maintain that form in the last few weeks.
In his last four games, Crews is batting .250 with four RBI. He’s struggled with strikeouts and while he’ll likely make it up to the majors relatively quickly, its doubtful that he’ll be there as fast as Skenes is projected to.
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