The Pittsburgh Pirates selected perhaps the best player in the MLB Draft last month when they drafted pitcher Paul Skenes from LSU.
LSU won the College World Series, and Skenes was a key factor in their run to the title.
Skenes ultimately signed with the Pirates and is now set to embark on his professional journey.
On Thursday, Skenes made his professional debut and showed off his electric fastball.
He managed to strike out Walker Jenkins, who was drafted by the Minnesota Twins.
On Twitter, a fan posted a video of the young Pirates pitching prospect recording his first strikeout and flaunting his velocity.
Paul Skenes strikes out Walker Jenkins with a 99 MPH fastball🔥
He topped at 101 and retired all three batters he faced in his pro debut💯 pic.twitter.com/5S9bs4AUJn
— Austin Oravec (@austinoravec) August 10, 2023
This is certainly an encouraging sign for the Pirates.
While Skenes is still several years away from the Major Leagues, he is off to a very good start, and he put his electric fastball to good use when he faced Jenkins.
Jenkins had no chance to catch up to it and ultimately whiffed, resulting in Skenes’ first career strikeout.
It appears that Skenes isn’t any worse for wear since helping LSU win their title.
The Pirates are in good shape if Skenes continues to pitch like this.
They already have Mitch Keller on their Major League roster.
The team is struggling right now, but if Skenes can rise to the Major Leagues soon, the Pirates could have a solid one-two punch consisting of him and Keller.
The Pirates are currently in fourth place in the NL Central, 10 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers for the top spot.
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