Paul Skenes was thrilled when he saw Shohei Ohtani taking his first home start on American soil back in 2018. The Japanese two-way player put on a show for the home crowd, tossing seven innings of one-hit ball with a dozen strikeouts for the Angels. Skenes grew up watching Ohtani reach the pinnacle of Major League Baseball, and he considered him “an inspiration in a lot of ways.” Fast forward to now, as Skenes took the helm as the baseball pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates, he leaves no stone unturned to give his counterparts a stiff competition. But this time, he had a direct face-off with his childhood icon, Shohei Ohtani.

On April 25th, the 22-year-old young ace Paul Skenes went up against the two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani. In fact, the NL Rookie of the Year 2024 made this matchup a thrilling showdown. With his elite arm, he helped the Pirates hand over a 3-0 win to the Dodgers. During the 5th inning, Skenes felt free to take the risk as Ohtani was in a 3-1 lead. Although he didn’t give up, instead, he reminded himself of this one thing that kept him going:

“Let’s see what I’m made of, let’s see where my stuff is.” As Skenes recalled that, he threw such a stellar pitch that created an illusion that it was going in a straight direction. But yes, it landed on Ohtani’s shoes, and it swung away. His pitches effortlessly exceed 100 mph. And his infamous splinker? Let’s just say it never fails to represent it’s nastiness. As he shut down the Dodgers and Ohtani with his high-velocity pitches, he has made a bold claim that stunned the Pirates nation and beyond.

Although it doesn’t happen in major leagues anymore, but Skenes claimed, “I know this is never going to happen, but I really do feel like I’m built and conditioned to throw 140, 150 [pitches].” If Skenes does so, he will join the historic company of Livan Hernandez, who threw 150 pitches across nine innings.

Skenes admitted that whenever he will be asked to go up against another sensational hitter, he will always be ready. He also confessed that usually, in the 6th or 7th inning, he feels better than he does in the first. And that was exactly the case in the game against the Dodgers. He has what it takes to win such thrilling showdowns, but how long will we see him in a Pirates jersey?

Will the Pirates be able to keep Skenes for a longer run?

Paul Skenes’ claim of throwing 140-150 pitches wasn’t baseless. He has that fire within him. If you hear it from the Pirates manager, Derek Shelton, he believes that despite being 22, “he has the ability to mix and match is very special for someone with this little major league experience.” And as he says so, the Dodgers-Pirates matchup was a living experience of that.

And the Dodgers have had the taste of Skenes last year as well. Across 11 innings, Skenes gave up 7 runs. That is inclusive of a soaring home run to the modern Babe Ruth – Shohei Ohtani. And Skenes believes that the Dodgers are no strangers to his game, and neither is he.

But given his stellar skill set and championship mindset, it raises speculations over how long Skenes will be in a Pirates jersey. Will he explore other big-budget teams? What’s his long-term plan? You see, the Pirates aren’t really about investing big. It has come to light that the Pirates’ ownership might not be able to meet Skenes’ relentless talent in the coming time.

The previous year, he also won the National Rookie of the Year and secured third place in Cy Young Voting. In just his brief stint of time in the major league, he has had a great record. The word is already out there that, given Skenes’ ambitions, he will end up with a big budget team sooner rather than later. But till he is in Pittsburgh, he will thrive in the Pirates uniform.