At this point they should just make Paul Skenes Day a national holiday.
The phenom had been hyped up beyond compare before reaching the big leagues in May, and somehow, he’s exceeded all expectations.
Just look at what he did Thursday against the Brewers.
Skenes threw seven no-hit innings with 11 strikeouts on 99 pitches before being pulled with a rising pitch count. This is the second time he threw six no hit innings with 11 Ks this season. He joins Nolan Ryan as the only pitcher in history to accomplish that feat.
The performance sent his Cy Young odds to the moon. They were +20000 to win the award when the Pittsburgh Pirates called him up, and +6500 exactly a week ago at BetMGM, which ranked 11th among all pictures. Now he’s +1000, which is third in the league behind only Chris Sale (+125) and Zack Wheeler (+140).
Skenes heads into the All-Star break carrying a 1.91 ERA and 0.92 WHIP with 89 strikeouts in 66.1 innings. Those 89 punchouts are the most through a pitcher's first 11 games since ERA became an official stat over 100 years ago. The next closest was Fernando Valenzuela (79) in 1981 and Orel Hershiser (77) in 1984. He’s also the first pitcher since 1901 to have at least seven strikeouts in 10 of his first 11 starts, and has accomplished the feat in eight-straight games.
Of course, Skenes won’t get much of a break as he’s heading to Texas for the Midsummer Classic. There’s also a sizeable movement calling for him to be named the National League’s starter. He’s arguably the biggest name in baseball right now, so what better to showcase his talents than handing him the ball to start the game?
