DK’s Daily Shot of Pirates: The first great pitcher

DK’s Daily Shot of Pirates: The first great pitcher

[Music] [Applause] a few years ago. I don’t remember exactly which one. I do remember that it was in Milwaukee and I remember that I was having a conversation with Garrett Cole really early in Cole’s career and at the time he was just starting to get right. He was just starting to become what he’d eventually grow into being in Houston and elsewhere. And I vividly recall sharing with him a mini history lesson of baseball in Pittsburgh and how this franchise over nearly a century and a half had never produced a truly great pitcher. Good morning to you. Good Friday morning. I’m Dan Kvatraovich of DK Pittsburgh Sports. This is Daily Shot of Pirates. It comes your way bright and early every weekday if you’re into football and or hockey. I also offer daily shots of Steelers and Penguins that I hope you’ll check out as well. Pirates 7 Reds nothing last night at PNC Park. Brian Reynolds and Henry Davis went deep. Reynolds Davis and Jared Triolo with two hits each. and the greatest pitcher in franchise history. Yes, even at this seemingly prenatal stage of an already brilliant career, Paul Sches pitched six scoreless innings, struck out eight, walked none, gave up a careerhigh seven hits, which in a way was kind of cool because it put on display for the 20,000 plus on hand a skill that he doesn’t often get to show, which is working out of jams. This was skins after the game last night talking to reporters at PNC Park, including our own Joseé Negron. Yeah, I mean that that’s where you see what you’re made of. Um I think that’s that’s the biggest thing. I think every time we go out there we see what we’re made of, but um you know sometimes when you get that um you know external pressure rather than internal pressure I guess you know if I’m pitching out of the wind up it’s all internal pressure, however you want to call it. So, um, but you don’t have a whole lot of room for error, though. So, uh, really just see what you’re made of. What he’s made of is unbelievable, unprecedented stuff in the context I was laying out earlier. And yeah, this does underscore that. In a game like this where he didn’t have everything going and he really didn’t. Dude turned to his change up, a pitch that he uses just a little bit over 9% of the time and made it his out pitch. He threw it 14 times. He got five of his 11 whiffs. That’s a swing and a miss by using the change. And most impressive given that the Reds had people on the bases, he used the change to finish off half of those eight strikeouts because he can. Jose asked Ski about exactly that. How do you kind of felt about the the change up usage and just the way you’ve been able to incorporate that even more into, you know, your your pitch usage, you know, a game by game on a game byame basis? Yeah, I think we’ve been picking our spots for it really well. Um I I think that’s what it comes down to. We saw it saw it last year. Um especially, you know, more so in the second half than the first half, but we’ve just been picking our spots for it, I think. And um you can talk about pitch grades and all that stuff. Um that’s one thing that, you know, I think is frustrating about today’s game. Not it’s not it’s a it’s an industrywide thing. I think like the pitch grades and all that. Like you got to understand how you how to use your stuff. Um, and I think we’ve done a good job with that. Stepping back from this one start and even all of Ski’s latest streaks, he’s gone five straight starts without allowing a home run. He’s gone five straight starts at PNC Park without allowing an earned run. That’s the longest such streak of home starts by anyone associated with the Pirates since erra became an official statistic in the National League in 1912. You could do these pretty much every time he pitches. All told, he’s got a 1.94 erra. That alone I really believe is going to get him the Sai Young award and he’ll be the first Pittsburgh pitcher to get that since Doug Drebeck way back in 1992. But more impressively, the guy who’s going to get the Sai Young in the other league, Tar Skubball of the Tigers, he’s a 2.18 for his erra compared to Skins is 1.94. That’s second best to best separated by a full 0.24 margin. Skins is tied for fifth in the majors with 162 strikeouts. And this comes even though he was recently held back with his innings count. And his innings count is at 144, which is third highest in the majors despite having been held back because he just never has those, you know, real super quick get him out of there kind of starts. Opponents are batting 192 against skins. I mean, I don’t even know what to say, but I do feel like in the interest of keeping this particular program, Daily Shot of Pirates, at least a little bit more interesting than it’s been over recent weeks and recent months. I’m going to from now on when he pitches, the next show is just going to be about him. I I feel like that’s a lot more representative to what we’re witnessing, which really has no business being 100% sullied by management, by ownership, by anything. He is a category unto himself. He is in a class by himself. And yes, Garrett Cole, the Pirates do have a truly great pitcher while wearing a Pittsburgh uniform for now. Anyway, when we come back, J1Q, if you’re looking for a great dining experience, look no further than Northshore Tavern. Located directly across Federal Street from PNC Park, next door to Mike’s Beer Bar, Northshore Tavern is Pittsburgh’s home for Steak on a stone. Enjoy your steak finished on a hot lava stone in front of you, where you ensure each piece is cooked to exactly your liking. or try their rotating selection of entre, hot sandwiches, salads, and burgers, all while enjoying the ambiance dedicated to the great players and history of the Pittsburgh Pirates all around you. Come see why everyone’s talking about Northshore Tavern and Steak on a Stone. It’s Gun Storage Check Week. Help prevent unwanted access to your firearms. No one wants their unsecured gun to be used in an accident, a suicide, or a crime. Use lock boxes, safes, and locks to secure your firearms. Learn more at gunstorage check.org. That’s gunstoch check.org. Brought to you by NSSF, the Firearm Industry Trade Association. Before [Music] reading today’s J1Q, I feel compelled to add a beautiful piece of feedback that I got to yesterday’s daily shot of Pirates in which I stressed the very real differences between the setup role and the closer role. Getting into why Dennis Santana might be struggling since David Bednar was traded. getting into why that job isn’t for everyone. This is from Bob who writes, “The true closer concept began in the late 1980s when A’s manager Tony Larusa decided to use Dennis Eckersley almost exclusively in ninth inning save situations. Before that, the top reliever was considered a fireman and often entered as early as the seventh inning of the game if it appeared to be on the line at that time. Those relievers often pitched multiple innings. They got the lion’s share of the saves, but they also chipped in as needed when the fireman was out of the game by the ninth inning. When Elroy Face had 28 saves in 1962, five other Pirates combined for 13 more saves. When Dave Justy had 30 saves in 1971, six other Pirates combined for 18 more saves. Goose Gosage 26 saves in 1977. Four other Pirates combined for 13 more. Kent Takalvi 31 saves in 1979. There were still four other Pirates combining for 21 more saves. In today’s game, teams treat the closer role as such a specialty that it puts great pressure on relievers not accustomed to that role. Managers talk about a special mindset needed that few possess. The closer enters in the ninth to special music and the crowd cheering. He takes the mound as if to perform a role that no one else on the team can do. As such, his total of saves becomes a key stat in Major League Baseball. So if someone else is suddenly thrust into that role, it puts pressure on them to do a job they’ve previously been deemed unqualified for. Whereas before, so much emphasis was placed on saves. It was common for multiple players on each team to acrue them. But in today’s game, it gets drilled into the heads of everyone but the closer that only the closer is qualified for that role. Well, it’s no wonder that other relievers struggle to close games when the anointed closer is no longer available. I love you, Bob. This is great, great stuff, supported by data, both statistical and anecdotal. And the only way it’ll change, because you obviously don’t deny that it’s the case, I believe, is if the culture changes. I don’t think you’re just going to have a manager emerge from a spring training with I don’t know three guys at the back end. Actually, we just saw it a couple years ago when it was Bednar, Colin Holderman and Araldis Chapman were all supposed to be kind of getting mixed and matched by Derek Sheldon. At least that was the plan at the outset. It ended up being mostly Bednar. And then when things went really south in a lot of ways, it ended up being mostly Chapman. And even then, people like me are showing up at the ballpark every day asking, “Who’s your closer? Who’s your closer? Who’s your closer?” It’s not going to swing back anytime soon. For an actual J1 Cube, that comes from CJ, who says, “DK, we all know that Ben Sherington should be fired, but the trades last week have me wondering if Bob Nutty will actually do it. Do you still think Cherington is done after this season? Or will the organization try to sweep this season under the rug and keep him around? As opposed to sharing with you CJ my opinion, I’m going to share with you what I’ve heard. And what I’ve heard about Cherington’s status is that it hasn’t changed from back when I was being told in the strongest possible terms that he’s going to be gone at season’s end. I have no reason whatsoever to doubt the original source on that. Nor do I have any reason to doubt the sources since then. Why is nothing hanging on to him? All I can do is go back and read again the same reporting that I shared with you at the time, which was that he wanted things to try to write themselves so that 2025 wasn’t some total waste and people started searching for other jobs and jumping ship basically. So, not based on my opinion, not based on a feel, but based on speaking with those inside the pirates and way, way, way high up inside the pirates, nothing has changed. I appreciate the question. I appreciate anytime anyone writes something like what Bob did. I might not always have the opportunity to respond, but please trust me when I tell you that I read every syllable that’s sent this way about Daily Shot of Pirates. And we’ll be back with another one of these on Monday. [Music]

Paul Skenes, the franchise’s first truly great pitcher.

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