BALTIMORE -- In the 144-year history of the Pittsburgh Pirates, only eight players have struck out 200 batters in a season. Ed Morris had the top two seasons back in the 19th century. Bob Veale accomplished the feat four times in the 1960s. In the 21st century, Óliver Pérez, Mitch Keller, A.J. Burnett, Francisco Liriano and Gerrit Cole all had a year with at least 200 punchouts.
On Wednesday night at Camden Yards, Paul Skenes joined that select group, hitting the 200 plateau by fanning Coby Mayo in the third inning with a sweeper. Skenes racked up eight strikeouts in all over a five-inning, 64-pitch outing and exited with a one-run lead on Spencer Horwitz’s fourth-inning home run. That wouldn’t hold, as the Orioles walked off the Pirates in extra innings for a second straight night, this time a 2-1 decision in 10 innings.
Skenes now sits at 203 strikeouts, the most in the National League and the third most in the Majors, behind Red Sox lefty Garrett Crochet and Tigers ace Tarik Skubal. Skenes is 11th in franchise history in strikeouts in a season, and third among right-handed pitchers behind Keller (210 in 2023) and Burnett (209 in 2013).
"Yeah, it's a brotherhood,” Skenes said with a grin, looking over to his locker neighbor, Keller. “Pretty darn good brotherhood. Hopefully, we get a couple more in that club soon."
Hitting 200 strikeouts is a career year for many pitchers, something that puts them in that “brotherhood” of the game’s top strikeout artists. The Pirates’ ace wasn’t exactly moved by hitting the plateau, though. When asked if 200 strikeouts meant anything to him, Skenes’ answer had the same blink-and-you’ll-miss-it nature as his fastball:
“No.”
Skenes is a very pragmatic pitcher, and a 200th strikeout technically doesn’t carry any extra value than the first, 100th or 48th. It’s an out. But when you punch tickets as effectively as he has -- 10.3 strikeouts per nine innings, behind only Pérez for starters in Pirates history -- it’s indicative of the type of pitcher he’s become.
“Just the consistency of him going out, making consistent starts and the stuff, to be able to rack up strikeouts like that, that’s something that’s at an elite level and he’s going to be able to do for a long time,” manager Don Kelly said.
"Yeah, punching out hitters is one of the reasons that we pitch,” Skenes said. “Always good to get strikeouts. Two hundred is cool, I guess, but hopefully not going to stop there."
There should be a little more to cap off what could be a Cy Young season. Skenes’ spot in the rotation is due to come up three more times before the season is through, but it’s not known how many innings he’s going to throw down the stretch.
Skenes is currently at 178 innings pitched, so he should finish with a noticeable bump up from the 160 1/3 frames he threw last year between the Majors and Minors. Kelly said they’ll monitor him, like all their young pitchers setting career highs in innings this year, and that it will be on a “start to start” basis.
A 64-pitch outing was Skenes’ shortest of the year, though his efficiency probably played a part in it. He even dusted off the splinker and threw it 14 times after it had been on the back burner for most of the season.
"Just wanted to show everybody I still had it,” Skenes joked. When asked about the feedback he got from hitters on it, he quipped, “I don't think they liked it today.”
The stuff is certainly still there as Skenes nears the finish line of his first full Major League season, and his sights are on finishing strong.
"The biggest thing, the main goal that I've had coming into the last two years is making every start,” Skenes said. “There are opportunities to give and take throughout the season. Tonight was kind of one of those. I probably needed it, to be honest.
“It's September, it's late. I'm feeling it a little bit. Biggest thing is being set up to make every start."
If Skenes does that, he might reach a higher tier of that brotherhood of Pirate strikeout artists.