Paul Skenes‘ already amazing season continues to become even more impressive.
The Pittsburgh Pirates rookie – and All-Star Game starter for the National League – tallied the 100th strikeout of his nascent major league career in Monday’s matchup with the Houston Astros. The milestone whiff occurred in the second inning with Skenes whiffing Jon Singleton on an 88 mph changeup.
A big round number like 100 is notable enough for a rookie pitcher. But Skenes is a phenom and how quickly he reached 100 strikeouts is what makes his achievement special.
As the Pirates shared on social media, Skenes is just the sixth pitcher since the current pitching mound was set 60 feet and six inches away from home plate in 1893 to reach 100 strikeouts in 13 or fewer games.
(Prior to 1893, pitchers threw for a distance that increased several times since baseball’s origins in 1845 – beginning at 45 feet before moving to 55 feet, 6 inches – as MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince explained.)
Put another way, Skenes is the sixth pitcher to compile 100 strikeouts in 13 starts since 1901, according to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs.
Paul Skenes is the 6th pitcher with 100+ strikeouts in his 1st 13 career app (since at least 1901), joining:
1995 Hideo Nomo: 119
1998 Kerry Wood: 118
1955 Herb Score: 107
1983 Jose DeLeon: 106
2014 Masahiro Tanaka: 103 https://t.co/sbuSNmLApF— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) July 30, 2024
Thus far through Monday’s game, Skenes has pitched six innings with six strikeouts, allowing two runs (one earned), five hits and three walks. The right-hander isn’t currently in line for the win with Houston holding a 2–1 lead, but he lowered his ERA to 1.90 for the season with 103 strikeouts in 80 2/3 innings.
