Paul Skenes shares his emotions from being pulled from ongoing no-hitter

Pittsburgh Pirates rookie RHP Paul Skenes had a no-hitter through seven in just his 11th career start in the big leagues on July 11 against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Rather than allow Skenes a chance at becoming the 26th rookie in MLB history to toss a no-hitter, manager Derek Shelton pulled him after 99 pitches. Skenes, appearing on the “ Pardon My Take ” podcast this week, described his emotions at the time when Shelton told him he was done after seven scoreless. Skenes revealed he wasn’t pissed at Shelton but rather himself, admitting he was “tired.”

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“I was more pissed at myself because I was at like 98 pitches or something like that. And I was tired,” Skenes said. “And it was the outing right before the All-Star break and I was tired to be honest.”

Though Skenes didn’t get credit for his no-hitter, he did make a bit of history in the start. Skenes struck out 11 batters, becoming the first pitcher since at least 1901 to record seven punchouts or more in 10 of his first 11 career starts. He became just the second-ever pitcher to have multiple starts with no hits allowed and at least 11 strikeouts in a single season . Baseball Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan is the only other pitcher to accomplish the feat.

Paul Skenes continues to impress in rookie season

Crazy enough, Skenes woke up that day and didn’t feel like he would have his best stuff.

“I was also at like 60 pitches through three innings. And that was one of the games where guys will say, ‘You have 30 starts in a year. You’re gonna feel great for 10 of them, you’re gonna feel terrible for 10 of them. And the other 10 it could go either way.’ Something like that. I’ve heard that a different number of ways,” Skenes said. “That was kind of one of the ones where I just woke up and didn’t feel great. Day games are tough. So, that was one where it was almost like, ‘We better get the pen going in the second because we’ll see how far we can go with this.’

“Kind of funny how that works. But like I said, I was more pissed at myself for being at 60 pitches through three innings.”

Skenes, the 2023 first overall pick out of LSU, has been lights out in his rookie campaign. Through 19 starts, he sports a 2.13 ERA with a 142:30 strikeout to walk ratio in 114.0 innings pitched. He improved to 9-2 in Tuesday’s outing against the Chicago Cubs, recording his fifth scoreless outing of the season.

Skenes is the co-favorite along with San Diego Padres outfielder Jackson Merrill to win the NL Rookie of the Year Award.

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