Were the Pirates right to pull Paul Skenes from his no-hit bid?

Paul Skenes is having a moment for the Pirates and the rookie sensation was named the National League All-Star starter on Friday.

ESPN’s Sarah Langs tweeted out that Skenes’ 11 career games are the fewest by an All-Star at the time of an All-Star Game he is on the roster for. But, was Pittsburgh doing right by him or the team by pulling him from his no-bit bid on Thursday? David Samson led the discussion on Friday’s edition of The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz.

For those who missed it, Skenes had a no-hit bid going through seven innings against the Brewers on Thursday with 11 strikeouts before being pulled at 99 pitches.

Should he have been pulled at that point? JuJu says let the boy COOK! Although he does also say if you’re the Pirates and you’re not going anywhere you should start ramping him down at some point.

David thought Pirates manager Derek Shelton had a particularly lame excuse for pulling Skenes, saying that he looked tired rather than it being due to pitch count. Jeremy points out the Skenes threw 120 or more pitches in three out of his four starts during LSU’s run to the College World Series, so the man is a HORSE. Jeremy says he is absolutely a guy that can go over 100 pitches. Jeremy understands pitch counts and the way that we baby arms these days, but Skenes is one of those guys physically who seems to be built for the long haul, even if some sort of injury is inevitable down the line. It’s just so frustrating to see baseball get in its own way of having the special moment of a no-hitter or a perfect game.

Billy chimes in that he hates when pitchers get removed in the middle of no-hitters, although David points out it’s really not the fault of the manager. Doesn’t matter to Billy, he hates them anyway!

How did David weigh pitch counts vs. the potential for moments when he was president of the Marlins?

He says the problem is that as president of the team, he wanted the no-hitter because he’s ready to monetize it — get your commemorative ticket stubs after the game! But the GM is the one who has made the decision, and convinced the owner, that if you let the pitcher continue you’re going to have a problem. David’s view is that he wants to look at the game, but the decisions are made before the game even starts. For instance, Skenes looked great yesterday!

Jeremy thinks it’s interesting that the notion of high-stress innings isn’t a consideration. David says analytics doesn’t worry about that because high-stress innings is based on what you see with your eyes and analytics isn’t interested in that.

Tune into The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz Monday-Friday at 11 a.m. ET on DraftKings Network!

AUDIO:

VIDEO:

Check out the Le Batard and Friends YouTube page for more and subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also follow the show on X at @LeBatardShow.

The Crown Is Yours: Sign up for DraftKings and experience the ultimate host for games and betting experiences!