Pittsburgh Pitcher Paul Skenes Duels It Out With Atlanta's Max Fried In Another Impressive Performance

Paul Skenes is showing with every start why he may already be one of the best two or three pitchers in Major League Baseball. 

Skenes in his previous outing allowed a first-pitch home run to Yandy Diaz and the Tampa Bay Rays.

READ: Paul Skenes Gives Up HR On His First Pitch, But Was Lights Out The Rest Of Game Against Tampa

But as aces often do, he settled down afterwards, finishing seven innings with eight strikeouts and just six hits allowed. Saturday, in a marquee matchup against the Atlanta Braves and another top starter, Max Fried, it looked like Skenes may finally have a shaky outing after a string of dominant performances to start his career.

It wasn't the first pitch, but Skenes again gave up a homer to Jarred Kelenic in the top of the first inning, giving Atlanta an early 1-0 lead. And that was about it. Once again, he settled in, allowing just six hits over six innings, with two walks and nine strikeouts. Including an impressive fastball blown by one of the game's best hitters in Marcell Ozuna.

He then set down Matt Olsen, Austin Riley and Travis D'Arnaud to finish out his seventh, eighth and ninth strikeouts.

That's about as good as it gets.

DETROIT - Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes throws a pitch against the Detroit Tigers in the second inning at Comerica Park in May. Photo: Lon Horwedel-USA TODAY Sports

Paul Skenes Isn't Just Looking Like An Ace, He Is One

Fried, to his credit, matched Skenes pitch for pitch. 

Though he wasn't quite as overpowering, the 30-year-old also allowed just one run, with four strikeouts and six hits allowed.

Neither starter would factor into the decision, leaving the game in a 1-1 tie that persisted into the tenth inning.

The story of the day though, is that Skenes continues to show that he may already be the best pitcher in the sport, with Spencer Strider out for the season. Saturday's performance lowered his ERA to 2.06 through his first 52.1 innings in MLB. He's striking out more than 12 hitters per nine innings, while walking just 1.72. His 29.3% K-BB% is elite, and considering a higher than average batting average on balls in play, his results have actually been a bit unfortunate.

Had he enough innings to qualify, Skenes would rank second in MLB in ERA, third in K/9, first in xFIP and second in K-BB%. And he's doing it against top lineups too.

Often, prospect hype can blow things out of proportion, and younger players don't live up to expectations. Skenes isn't just living up to them, he's blowing past them. And it's helping keep the Pirates on the fringes of playoff contention.