Paul Skenes' Skyrocket To Show Continues, And Troubled Alek Manoah May Be There Soon, Too

PublishedMay 1, 2024 2:11 PM EDT|UpdatedMay 1, 2024 2:22 PM EDT

If one day Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Alek Manoah of the Toronto Blue Jays duel in a World Series or Interleague Play, they will look back fondly on their night together in Indianapolis on April 30, 2024.

They met at Victory Field on Tuesday in front of 6,237, but it may as well have been the Indianapolis Motor Speedway five miles away as both seemed in a 100 mph hurry to get to the Majors.

Skenes, the No. 1 pick of the 2023 Major League Baseball Draft out of national champion LSU, struck out seven in a six-inning shutout, around a walk and four hits. More importantly, he threw a pro career-high 75 pitches (53 strikes) as his Indianapolis Indians beat Manoah and the Buffalo Bisons, 4-3, in a memorable Triple-A pitching duel.

This sign featuring Triple-A Indianapolis pitcher Paul Skenes stretches over left field at Indy's Victory Field, where Skenes pitched on Tuesday night, striking out seven in six shut-out innings against Buffalo in a 4-3 win. (Getty Images)

Skenes, 21, did not allow a run in a start for the fifth time this season as his Earned Run Average dwindled to 0.39 in 11 starts with 41 strikeouts. He clocked a 101 mph pitch Tuesday and another at 100.9, giving him 89 pitches of 100 or more this season. Could the call to the Pirates be far away?

"I don't see or hear any of it," he said after the game. "The call will come when it comes."

In the meantime, he'll take calls from or call girlfriend Olivia Dunne, who just won a national championship with the LSU gymnastics team two weeks ago to go with his.

The Pirates, 14-16 for a last-place tie with St. Louis in the National League Central, could use a fast jolt. They lost their second straight at Oakland (14-17) on Tuesday night, 5-2, and sixth of their last seven overall. And Skenes has complained about not being brought along fast enough.

"The only thing that matters is what I'm doing right now," Skenes said. "I felt really good out there - very good. They put some balls in play, especially early in the first few pitches of at-bats, but I'm happy with the way I threw."

Alek Manoah, a Cy Young finalist and All-Star for Toronto in 2022, has struggled since 2023 and finds himself again at Triple-A Buffalo trying to make his way back to the Majors. (Getty Images)

So was Manoah, who struck out 12 in six innings around one run, two hits and two walks in his best rehab start out of five for the Bisons after opening the season in the minors with shoulder issues. He is trying to return to Toronto after being demoted twice to the minors last year when he went 3-9 with a 5.87 ERA in 87 and a third innings. Manoah was 9-2 with a 3.22 ERA in 2021 with the Blue Jays and 16-7 with a 2.24 ERA in 2022 when he was an All-Star and a Cy Young finalist.

Manoah, who was the 11th pick of the first round in 2019 out of West Virginia, went into Tuesday night's game with a 6.50 ERA in 18 innings through four starts for Buffalo. But considering his performance Tuesday, the Blue Jays may call him up any day now as his 30-day rehab assignment ends on Monday. And Toronto fifth starter Yariel Rodriguez just went on the 15-day injured list with spine inflammation. Other Blue Jay starters Bowden Francis and Ricky Tiedermann are also on the IL.

"His stuff was electric," Toronto manager John Schneider said after getting reports on Manoah's performance. "The stuff looked really, really good. When everyone asks what we were looking for from Alek, that was it and maybe even a little more."