Paul Skenes, MLB’s 2023 No. 1 Pick, Doesn’t Get Out of First Inning in Double-A Debut

Since the Pirates took him with the No. 1 pick in June’s MLB draft, pitcher Paul Skenes has rocketed through the minor leagues.

In the Florida Complex League, he threw just one scoreless inning. In the Florida State League, he threw three. Those 12 outs were deemed strong enough to promote Skenes to Double-A on Monday.

Unfortunately for Skenes, Double-A proved to be a different animal than the lower levels.

Skenes was roughed up in his debut with the Altoona Curve Saturday, giving up four earned runs on three hits and two walks to the Akron RubberDucks before being removed after just 2/3 of an inning.

Paul Skenes Double-A debut:

0.2 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO pic.twitter.com/oFSaMh6sfl

— Milb Central (@milb_central) August 26, 2023

The LSU product did strike out two batters, running his minor league total to seven.

With the Tigers this past season—his first and only year in Baton Rouge after transferring from the Air Force Academy—Skenes posted one of the most dominant college baseball seasons in recent memory. He went 12–2 with a 1.69 ERA, and struck out 209 batters in 102 2/3 innings.