Paul Skenes threw two-and-a-third innings for the Pirates yesterday, allowing one run on one hit, striking out four and walking four in his spring training debut. The Pirates lost to the Braves, 3-1.
The Braves used baseball’s new challenge system to overturn four calls by home plate umpire Chris Segal, and that elevated the pitch count for Skenes, causing him to leave the game early.
Skenes said he was happy with his velocity and his pitch selection, but his control was a bit off.
Skenes, Nick Gonzalez, Oneil Cruz, Spencer Horwitz, Kyle Nicolas, Dennis Santana and Gregory Soto will all report to Team USA for the World Baseball Classic on Sunday. They’re expected to be gone from Pirates camp for two weeks.
The Pirates play the Twins (and former Bucs manager Derek Shelton) in Bradenton today.
