"Reminds me of facing Stephen Strasburg" - Joey Votto speaks on Paul Skenes' debut, recalls Nationals legend's unforgettable first appearance

On Saturday, Paul Skenes made his major league debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates against their division rivals Chicago Cubs at PNC Park. Skenes pitched for four innings and recorded 84 pitches before being taken out of the game.

He allowed three runs while striking out seven players of the opposing team. The Pirates won 10-9 against the Cubs. Citing Paul Skenes’ performance former Cincinnati Reds star Joey Votto said:

“Watching Skenes reminds me of facing Strasburg after his call-up. I took a fastball in my first at-bat, looked up, and saw ‘100’ on the board. I thought, ‘Uh oh.’ The next pitch? The best curveball I’d ever seen—gulp. Same could be said about the changeup later… This beautiful game keeps moving fwd.”

Votto compared Skenes with former Washington Nationals player Stephen Strasburg, with whom he shares quite a few similarities.

Skenes was the No. 1 draft pick in 2023 for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Strasburg was the No.1 draft pick in 2009 for the Nationals.

Both players are known for their impressive fastball velocities with Strasburg typically sitting around 96-99 mph and occasionally reaching 102 mph, while Skenes averaged 98 mph and reached 100 mph.

Skenes' first game garnered high anticipation just as was the case with Stephen Strasburg's debut. In 2010, the latter struck out 14 players on his first major league debut.

With so much in common, the Pittsburgh Pirates hope that Skenes can match Stephen Strasburg's achievements. Strasburg is a 2019 World Series MVP and a three-time All-Star.

Paul Skenes played college baseball for LSU and helped them win the 2023 Men’s College World Series title. Before his MLB debut, he recorded a 0.99 ERA and 47 strikeouts in just over 27 innings for the Triple-A Indianapolis.

Paul Skenes satisfied with major league debut performance

Throughout the game against the Chicago Cubs, Paul Skenes threw fastballs at high speeds with one reaching 101.9 mph marking the fastest pitch recorded by a Pirates pitcher since 2008.

"You can chalk it up to a number of things. But it just wasn't as sharp as it's been," Skenes said (via the Washington Post).

In an on-field postgame interview on Sportsnet Pittsburgh, Paul Skenes said:

"Once-in-a-lifetime experience, for sure. Just an awesome experience from the first pitch, and I'm glad we got a win."

He became the first Pittsburgh Pirates player aged 21 or younger to strike out seven batters in his MLB debut since 1907.

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