The Giants have never seen Skenes and that's a huge advantage for the pitcher. His stuff is so ridiculous, averaging 99.7 mph with his fastball while his sinker has been as effective as any pitch in baseball so far. He was beyond dominant last time out, shaking off the first-game jitters, and I'm expecting more of the same. I think he gets to around 10, if you're interested in a ladder.

Paul Skenes is coming off an incredible second MLB start where he struck out 11 in six hitless innings. More importantly, he threw 100 pitches in the outing, which shows the Pirates are comfortable asking for length after starting him at around 45 pitches per start in the minors this year. And they should need it today following consecutive extra-innings games where the bullpen threw around 100 pitches in each. Skenes will face a predominantly right-handed Giants lineup, and RH hitters have around a .420 OPS against Skenes in 79 plate appearances at all levels in his pro career. His rate will eventually normalize higher, but that shows he could blow through this lineup en route to six innings today.

If Paul Skenes is as good as we think, the Giants aren't doing much of anything offensively for six innings or so. And I'm actually thrilled they aren't starting one of their top pitching prospects, Mason Black, and instead an opener do so and then Black. He has struggled in three starts but has terrific stuff and maybe getting into the game against the bottom half of a lineup is just what he needs. The 8.5s are disappearing.

I was really curious how the books would price Paul Skenes in his first start following six no-hit innings in Chicago. He's still a rookie only making his third start but wow that dude is truly filthy. He reminds me of Mike Scott of the Houston Astros in his 3-4 year heyday even though I was basically a polliwog way back then age wise. If the Cubs couldn't hit him, the Giants might just forfeit as their lineup isn't nearly as good. This is the first time Skenes has faced a team other than the Cubbies. I expect this to rise a fair amount simply with Skenes-related money. With him, Jared Jones and Oneil Cruz, look out for the Bucs as early as 2025.