When MLB Network ranked its Top 10 Starting Pitchers Right Now on Wednesday night, the biggest revelation involved Paul Skenes, but it wasn’t that the Pittsburgh Pirates ace didn’t rank at the top of the list.
Skenes has something up his sleeve in the form of a new pitch.
That Tarik Skubal was No. 1 shouldn’t come as a surprise, given that the Detroit Tigers left-hander has won the American League Cy Young Award in back-to-back seasons. Skenes even told TribLive before the All-Star break that he has no problem with Skubal being regarded as the best pitcher in baseball.
“I would agree with it,” Skenes said. “He does it differently. He does it at a very high level. I don’t know his stats off the top of my head, but as far as presence on the mound. … I don’t see the media coverage a ton but all that stuff, there’s something that comes with, he’s a guy, he’s a dude. … He’s Tarik Skubal. That’s how I see him. That’s how guys in the clubhouse and around the league, I think, see him. It’s cool. It’s an honor to be in that conversation.”
Skenes is special in his own right, with host Brian Kenny noting that he’s drawing comparisons to Hall of Famer Tom Seaver — “and it’s not out of line” — and that the 6-foot-6, 260-pound right-hander has recorded the lowest ERA through 55 starts (1.96) in the live ball era.
But the big news is that Skenes is adding a new offering to his seven-pitch arsenal. It’s a promising sign for a power pitcher who touches triple digits on his four-seam fastball, balanced by an unhittable “splinker” — a splitter-sinker hybrid — as a rookie, and unveiled a changeup last season that hitters batted .103 against.
“He seemingly can just invent pitches as he goes along,” MLB Network analyst Ron Darling said. “He’s got a great feel for shaping a pitch. The changeup became a big pitch last year, where it wasn’t in 2024.”
Eno Sarris of The Athletic broke what could become a bigger story this spring while talking about how Skenes’ sweeper was ranked the No. 3 pitch in the game, behind Shohei Ohtani’s sweeper and Skubal’s changeup. Sarris noted that opponents batted .150 with a .215 slugging percentage off the sweeper, which Skenes threw on 15.8% of his pitches.
“It’s one of biggest parts of his game. Of course, he has the velo and plays the two fastballs off each other,” Sarris said. “I’ve heard that he has a new pitch this year called the ‘sleeper.’ I’m not even kidding. He’s going to throw a slower version of the sweeper and play them off each other, which makes sense because he throws the hard splitter and another changeup and he plays those off each other. So he’s looking to be kind of the Yu Darvish of power pitchers.”
Darvish has nine pitches, though he only threw the knuckle curve and changeup a combined 20 times last season. With the “sleeper,” Skenes will have eight pitches. And he still hasn’t shown the cutter that he was working on last season in a game yet.
1. Golden rule: When Oneil Cruz switched from shortstop to center field, he did so wearing a Gold Glove. Cruz borrowed an outfielder’s mitt from Michael A. Taylor, whose glove was adorned with a gold Rawlings patch after winning one for the Kansas City Royals in 2021.
Cruz said he “definitely feels a lot better” in center after playing 23 games in center in 2024 and starting 120 there last season.
“I think it’s going to put me in a really good spot now because I have a better idea how to react to balls, directions, angles and all that,” Cruz said through interpreter and Pirates coach Stephen Morales last weekend at PiratesFest. “I think I’m going to be in a way better spot for spring training.”
Where Taylor helped his transition, Cruz is now getting pointers from a pair of former major leaguers, including a Platinum Glove winner.
Cruz said he spent some of the offseason training in the Dominican Republic with Wilton Guerrero Sr., whose son and namesake is a 16-year-old shortstop who headlined the Pirates’ international class by signing for a $1.95 million bonus Jan. 15.
And Theo Aasen, an athlete optimization and longevity specialist based in Tampa, posted a photo on Instagram of Cruz working with four-time Gold Glove winner Kevin Kiermeier.
Kiermeier, who won American League Platinum Glove for Tampa Bay in 2015, retired following an 11-year career with the Rays, Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Cruz said he’s worked not just on his quickness, reactions to the ball and the angles off the bat but also his throws to the bases. Cruz realized that having the strongest arm in the majors matters little if he’s throwing behind runners and missing the cutoff.
“That was something that I struggled with last year, just because the arm action is different,” Cruz said. “I knew I had to get better at it. I worked on that a lot. I think I’m in a better spot right now.”
2. Find a way: Pirates general manager Ben Cherington and manager Don Kelly were singing the praises of Gold Glove utility infielder Jared Triolo, even though they don’t know where he will play.
Triolo started 44 games at shortstop, 30 at third base, 12 at first base and 10 at second base last season, bouncing around the infield and being ready to play wherever needed.
“It’s like every other year, but just staying ready at every position,” Triolo said. “Coming into spring training available at all the infield spots and even some outfield. Feeling good everywhere.”
Triolo called playing shortstop “really beneficial,” giving him the confidence that he could do so at a high level. With the additions of All-Stars Brandon Lowe and Ryan O’Hearn, Triolo most likely will be on the left side this season.
Whether that’s replacing Ke’Bryan Hayes at third base or serving as the stopgap at shortstop until No. 1 prospect Konnor Griffin is ready for the majors remains to be seen. Cherington has said the Pirates would like to add another infielder to their left side.
“It’s a good feeling to have players like Tri on your team because you know that day in, day out, he’s going to find a way to do something to help the team,” Cherington said. “It might be a defensive play. It might be on the bases. It might be executing a fundamental. It might be an at-bat. He finds a way to help the team win games. I think he proved in 2025 what we believed before that — which is that he can play shortstop. Exactly what role he plays on the team will depend a little bit on what the team looks like as we get to Opening Day.”
3. Who’s on first?: Spencer Horwitz learned that the Pirates were signing O’Hearn on MLB Trade Rumors. Instead of wondering how Horwitz fit in with the addition of an All-Star who played primarily first base for Baltimore and San Diego last season, Horwitz said he was “super excited” about O’Hearn.
“I’ve played against Ryan the last few years in the AL East and I love the way he plays and hits,” Horwitz said at PiratesFest. “I think we’re pretty similar: Control the zone, do some damage. He texted me when he signed and said he was excited to get to work. I think that shows the kind of guy he is, the kind of leader he is.”
Horwitz said Cherington and Kelly told him that there’s a chance he will split time between first base, second base and designated hitter this season in an effort to “put the best offensive lineup we can together.”
Horwitz had a near-even split between first and second with Toronto in 2024, but played 102 games at first base for the Pirates last season after missing two months following wrist surgery.
“It feels great to be healthy. This is the healthiest I’ve felt in a long time — knock on wood — and I think the offseason’s gone great with strength levels, and what I wanted to work on with baseball hitting and defensively. I’m just excited to show it on the field.”
4. Throwing harder: Jared Jones didn’t hesitate when asked what he missed most about being sidelined all season following an InternalBrace procedure on his right elbow.
“That I miss baseball,” Jones said. “Sitting on my couch and watching a game is not fun compared to being in the dugout or being the one playing it.”
After comparing throwing off the mound for the first time to a kid on Christmas Day, Jones has been doing two bullpens per week in Florida this month and is “excited to keep progressing.”
“Just putting cleats on and actually feeling the rubber, going through the whole windup, take the mound, it’s been fun,” Jones said. “Still feel the same way.”
Jones has been working to increase the velocity on his fastball and mix in some off-speed pitches every two to three weeks.
“I started really slow,” Jones said of his pitching program, “and I’m really hard right now.”
The next step?
“Throwing harder,” Jones said. “As hard as I can.”
5. Time for The Show: Esmerlyn Valdez was playing PlayStation when he warned players in the Arizona Fall League to expect a call during their video game that he was added to the 40-man roster.
What video game was he playing? MLB The Show.
The 22-year-old Pirates prospect was playing as himself. One problem: He hasn’t hit above Double-A Altoona. A 6-foot-2, 181-pound Dominican right-handed hitting outfielder/first baseman, Valdez flashed power potential by batting .286/.376/.520 with 25 doubles, 26 home runs and 86 RBIs.
Then he starred for Salt River by batting .368 with a 1.355 OPS, eight homers and 27 RBIs in 19 Fall League games.
“It felt really good and I just went there with the mentality of earned trust, earned my spot and represented the Pirates real well,” Valdez said through Morales. “Amazing. Incredible and fascinating. Those three words. Just because all the hard work that I put on during the offseason. It pays during the season and it always feels good as a player to say that all the work you put in, it paid off.”
Cherington called Valdez “a great story” and pointed him out as an example of some of the progress the Pirates are seeing in hitting development. While Cherington allowed that Valdez still has room for development, he won’t put a ceiling on the slugger.
“He was always a talented hitter, always hit for power but made a substantive change in his swing coming into 2025 and his approach, and we saw him get to another level of performance, both in High-A and Double-A and the Arizona Fall League,” Cherington said. “So, we’re really excited about him. He plays a position that brings something to the table we need more of, obviously power in an outfielder.”