Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes has made countless hitters look foolish throughout his first two MLB seasons, and Washington Nationals first baseman Nathaniel Lowe is one of the right-hander’s newest victims.
Skenes threw six innings in the Pirates’ 10-3 win over the Nationals on Monday night at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pa. He allowed just 3 hits and struck out 6. One of those strikeouts came on an insane sweeper pitch.
Skenes caught Lowe looking for a called third strike in the top of the fourth inning. The 82-mph pitch was 20 inches off the plate before ending up well inside the strike zone.
Paul Skenes, Frisbee 82mph Sweeper. 🥏
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 14, 2025
20 inches of horizontal break pic.twitter.com/FC6gD9kGL2
You can’t blame Lowe for leaving the bat on his shoulder.
Skenes has an arsenal of five pitches, which is why he is so effective. He has a fastball that regularly hovers around 100 mph and can throw pitches that break both ways. Even one of his teammates learned that the hard way over the winter.
Skenes improved to 2-1 with the win over Washington. He has a 2.96 ERA through four starts and has struck out 26 batters in 24 1/3 innings.
