But Paul Skenes is one incredibly talented pitcher the Yankees had no chance of bringing into the organization. General manager Brian Cashman was asked about what the Yankees thought of Skenes when they saw hip pitch in college for Louisiana State.
The Yankees clearly had a high grade on Skenes when the Pittsburgh Pirates made him the No. 1 pick in the 2023 Major League Baseball draft, but they couldn’t get close to him.
“Jim Hendry (Yankees special assistant) saw him in the draft and told him he’s the best starter he’s seen amateur-wise in 10-20 years,” Cashman explained to the assembled media. “Unfortunately we didn’t lose enough games to be in a position to pull that one”
Starting pitching should be a strength for Yankees
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Skenes could turn out to be the best pitcher in Major League Baseball if his development continues, and even if there is a setback or two, he clearly is one of the top 10 starters. There’s not a team that wouldn’t love to have Skenes at or near the top of their rotation.
However, the Yankees don’t have to pine for starting pitching. They look very strong in that area as spring training gets underway. Gerrit, Cole, Fried, Carlos Rodon, Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt form their five-man rotation, and that unit looks powerful as long as they can stay relatively healthy. Cole is clearly one of the best pitchers in the American League because of power, command and excellent control.
Fried has been one of the best pitchers for the Atlanta Braves in recent seasons. Calling him a crafty lefty would not be correct because that implies that the southpaw uses a lot of junk to retire most hitters. Fried certainly can command the slower pitches, but he can also hit the corners with his fastball.
Skenes heads into his second big-league season with momentum and high expectations. Skenes was the National League Rookie of the Year and he started the All-Star Game for the Senior Circuit. He had an 11-3 record with a 1.96 earned run average while pitching 133.0 innings and striking out 170 hitters.
Opposing batters slashed .198/.257/.295 against Skenes last season.
Steve Silverman has been covering the NFL for more than 35 years, and his writing has appeared in ESPN Magazine, Bleacher Report, CBS Sports, Pro Football Weekly, and Forbes.com. He has written 10 books, including “Who’s Better, Who’s Best in the NFL.”
