Skenes using this nasty trick to freeze hitters

It’s been 11 starts in the MLB and Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes already had All-Star starter on his resume.

It’s no surprise, Skenes’ four-seam fastball easily tops over 100 mph when he wants it to. He also has a slider and curveball that helps keep batter guessing and there is the “splinker”, the famous splitter-sinker combo.

With all those tools, Skenes has began his MLB career at 6-0 with a 1.90 ERA at the young age of 22.

There is also talk that Skenes could be a favorite for the Cy Young Award.

And, after a conversation he had with the “Pitching Ninja” Rob Friedman during the All-Star Game activities, it looks like there is a good chance it could happen.

Even when Skenes misses a pitch, he’s using it to his advantage.

While talking with Friedman on Monday, Skenes says he sometimes uses his misses.

After throwing a ball, Skenes has the ability to follow up with another pitch that appears to be going to the same exact location, but actually ends up over the plate for a strike. Watch the video here .

Skenes gives credit to Friedman for showing him about “tunneling” which is when a pitcher can make a follow-up pitch look like it’s going to follow the pervious pitch outside the plate, but it lands for a strike.

The technique makes it almost impossible for the batter not to lay off the pitch.