Paul Skenes

[CharmCityHokie]

1 hour ago, backwardsk said:

The top end of this draft is remarkable. I kind of look at it as having Strasburg and Harper in the same draft (with Crews being closer to MLB). Two elite options. One a pitcher. One a position player. The position player typically is a safer pick.

If Pittsburgh goes Crews, I definitely see Washington go Skenes. If Pittsburgh for some reason goes with someone else, I’m not sure who Washington would take.

I have read several draft pundits say this is the best first-round class in years...I guess we decided to get good one year too early!

[Frobby]

4 hours ago, backwardsk said:

The top end of this draft is remarkable. I kind of look at it as having Strasburg and Harper in the same draft (with Crews being closer to MLB). Two elite options. One a pitcher. One a position player. The position player typically is a safer pick.

If Pittsburgh goes Crews, I definitely see Washington go Skenes. If Pittsburgh for some reason goes with someone else, I’m not sure who Washington would take.

Listening to MLB Pipeline, they seem to think Chase Dollander would be picked ahead of Skenes if the draft was tomorrow.  The draft isn’t tomorrow, so we’ll see.  

[backwardsk]

30 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Listening to MLB Pipeline, they seem to think Chase Dollander would be picked ahead of Skenes if the draft was tomorrow.  The draft isn’t tomorrow, so we’ll see.  

Yeah, they just put Dollander number 2 on their list about a month ago so I’m sure they would defend it. Skenes is just putting up video game numbers in March. Maybe Pittsburgh takes him, but I can’t see Rizzo taking Dollander over Skenes.

[Frobby]

7 minutes ago, backwardsk said:

Yeah, they just put Dollander number 2 on their list about a month ago so I’m sure they would defend it. Skenes is just putting up video game numbers in March. Maybe Pittsburgh takes him, but I can’t see Rizzo taking Dollander over Skenes.

Well, as I said, the draft isn’t tomorrow.  Hopefully these guys continue to pitch well and stay healthy.  

[RZNJ]

3 hours ago, Frobby said:

Well, as I said, the draft isn’t tomorrow.  Hopefully these guys continue to pitch well and stay healthy.  

If the draft were tomorrow you'd have a hard time finding anyone besides mlb pipeline who would take Dollander before Skenes. Skenes already passed before their head to head matchup but that was just icing on the cake.

[RZNJ]

Per Baseball America. 

In what was the most anticipated pitching matchup of the entire season, Skenes faced off against Tennessee’s Chase Dollander in front of a record-setting crowd of over 13,000 at Alex Box Stadium on Thursday night. As he has been all season, Skenes was dominant with his full arsenal of above-average or better pitches. Against a loaded Tennessee lineup, the 6-foot-6 righthander allowed just one earned run across seven innings pitched and collected 12 strikeouts while walking one. His fastball sat in the 97-100 mph range for the entirety of his outing and topped out at 101. Skenes’ slider was lethal all night, a pitch which generated eight swings and misses. He manipulated its shape well, as it took on a true sweeper look against righthanded hitters, with more vertical movement against lefthanded hitters. He threw it just 12 times, but his changeup also flashed plus when he threw it with sharp, late fade. Skenes further cemented himself as the clear No. 1 pitcher in this year’s draft and now has a 5-0 record with a minuscule 0.81 ERA to go along with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 83-to-8 across 44.1 innings pitched. 

[Sports Guy]

Wonder if people are any more worried about an injury to Skenes than normal?  He is throwing so hard and you know he will worked a lot this year.

[RZNJ]

45 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Wonder if people are any more worried about an injury to Skenes than normal?  He is throwing so hard and you know he will worked a lot this year.

There’s always risk but look at this kid’s physique and mechanics.  Strasberg has had a lot of injuries.  Gerritt Cole has been virtually injury free.  It’s a roll of the dice.

[Frobby]

11 hours ago, RZNJ said:

If the draft were tomorrow you'd have a hard time finding anyone besides mlb pipeline who would take Dollander before Skenes. Skenes already passed before their head to head matchup but that was just icing on the cake.

I think the Pipeline podcast aired last Monday or Tuesday, before the head to head showdown.  It was just a remark made in  passing as they were answering a reader’s question about whether some other guy would be the no. 1 pick if he was eligible this year.   They spent most of their answer taking about Crews, and briefly talked about Dollander.   No mention of Skenes.  My guess is they’ll get into it in detail on this week’s podcast, though.  

[RZNJ]

Carlos Collazo in Baseball America

Since that mock draft in mid-March, Skenes has only continued to impress and while I won’t go as far as comparing him to Stephen Strasburg just yet—it’s telling that multiple scouts haven’t waved away such lofty comps immediately and instead said things like “I don’t think it’s hyperbolic.”

As things stand today the LSU pairing might be the favorites for the first two picks of the draft. We still have plenty of SEC baseball to get through and the draft won’t take place for another three months, but it’s exciting to realize there’s a genuine chance for draft history in July.

[RZNJ]

He’s human. Skenes gave up 2 homers and 3 runs (2 earned) in 3 IP against fellow SEC powerhouse South Carolina.  Tha game was delayed by lightning and he didn’t return.  In this subpar outing he waked 0 and struck out 8!

[Just Regular]

The Orioles ~$10.5mm pool is greater than the ~$9.7mm slot value for 1-1, in case Elias wanted to do the Jasson Dominguez thing and use virtually an entire pool on one player.

[CharmCityHokie]

On 4/8/2023 at 10:22 AM, Just Regular said:

The Orioles ~$10.5mm pool is greater than the ~$9.7mm slot value for 1-1, in case Elias wanted to do the Jasson Dominguez thing and use virtually an entire pool on one player.

I need to look up the draft rules, but if they made a suggestion to  the 'advisor-to-the-player' about this, and the advisor makes it known Skenes won't sign for less than 10.5mm and he fall to the Orioles... and then they no longer select any other player, is there any rule against that? 

I know that they have to offer every player drafted a minimum amount to sign, but could they abscond from the rest of the draft after the first round?

This is all silly hypotheticals because it would never happen and I wouldn't suggest it as a strategy but I am curious if it's possible within the framework of the rules. I'll have to look it up later.

[Can_of_corn]

4 minutes ago, CharmCityHokie said:

I need to look up the draft rules, but if they made a suggestion to  the 'advisor-to-the-player' about this, and the advisor makes it known Skenes won't sign for less than 10.5mm and he fall to the Orioles... and then they no longer select any other player, is there any rule against that? 

I know that they have to offer every player drafted a minimum amount to sign, but could they abscond from the rest of the draft after the first round?

This is all silly hypotheticals because it would never happen and I wouldn't suggest it as a strategy but I am curious if it's possible within the framework of the rules. I'll have to look it up later.

You'd have to get the other top picks to accept whatever the lower offer was.  So you could sign say a bunch of college seniors for 20K a pop.

If a player from the draft pool rounds doesn't sign, that money is removed from the pool.

There is also nothing stopping a team from picking him and trying to get him to change his mind.  If he doesn't sign they get a pick in next year's draft.  Not ideal but it does make it less risky.

Edited April 13, 2023 by Can_of_corn

[CharmCityHokie]

1 minute ago, Can_of_corn said:

You'd have to get the other top picks to accept whatever the lower offer was.  So you could sign say a bunch of college seniors for 20K a pop.

If a player from the draft pool rounds doesn't sign, that money is removed from the pool.

Right, definitely forgot that the pool money is removed, very good point. So much for me Moneyball-ing my way to a single pick draft.