MLB Rumors: Paul Skenes dominates, but gets depressing dose of Pirates reality in debut

Paul Skenes, the No. 1 pick in the 2023 MLB Draft out of LSU, made his debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday. Skenes only threw one inning and allowed no runners to reach base. It went about as smoothly as one could hope, which isn't a huge surprise considering Skenes is used to facing elite competition in the SEC. He should make his way up the ranks quickly.

Perhaps the most impressive part of Skenes debut was his strikeout of No. 5 pick, high-school slugger Walker Jenkins.

Skenes was routinely clocked over 100 MPH with his fastball. Anyone familiar with Skenes' work at LSU should not be surprised by that fact.

Unfortunately, Pittsburgh relinquished an early lead shortly after removing Skenes from his one inning of work. The FCL Twins took a 3-2 lead, scoring three runs off Luigi Hernandez. Considering the Pirates are in a firm rebuilding state, Skenes should get used to losing leads early in his tenure.

However, the most important part of Skenes' outing was escaping unscathed, both on the scoreboard and from an injury perspective. The LSU Tigers asked a lot out of Skenes on their run to the College World Series. Now with Pittsburgh, the Pirates will likely watch his innings from here on out, while also ensuring he receives enough work in the minors.

MLB Rumors: Spencer Torkelson thinks the Tigers can make the playoffs

It's been a developmental year for Spencer Torkelson, who has 19 home runs to go with his .225 batting average and .710 OPS, which is slightly below league average. Tork and the Tigers defeated the division-leading Minnesota Twins on Wednesday night. Despite being eight games back in the mediocre AL Central, Torkelson is confident this Detroit team can go on a run.

"We feel like we're not out of it. We're still in the fight, and we're going to stay in the fight until we're not. That's a good team, and the Guardians are a good team. But we're going to keep pushing," Torkelson said, per the Detroit Free-Press.

While we love Torkelson's confidence — and Tigers fans should as well — I have to respectfully disagree with his assessment. Per FanGraphs, Detroit has under a two percent chance at making the postseason. In fact, their only realistic route is through the AL Central division crown, where they are in third place behind both Minnesota and the Cleveland Guardians.

A.J. Hinch backed Torkelson, insisting that his team's recent struggles are not an indication of their final product.

"One good night can all of a sudden get you back on track," Hinch said. "It has been a little rough. His first couple of at-bats weren't great, but he's got the mentality to flush that between at-bats and get to the next one. … That's why you hang with guys, just hang with them mentally, because if they hang with themselves mentally, they can come out of it very quickly."

Perhaps Hinch and Tork know something the general public does not, because these eyes perceive Minnesota running away with the Central.

MLB Rumors: Could the San Francisco Giants be Shohei Ohtani favorites?

In 2017, Shohei Ohtani signed with the Los Angeles Angels after meeting with seven teams. The San Francisco Giants were one of those seven teams, but at the time couldn't promise Ohtani the opportunity to play a part-time DH role because the designated hitter had yet to be approved in the National League.

Times have changed, and Ohtani is soon to be a free agent once again. Could San Francisco be in play? The Giants former general manager sure thinks so.

"It would be interesting if he could have picked a National League club, who would he have picked at that time? He might not want to disclose that. But I would say the fact we were one of the seven finalists bodes well," Bobby Evans said, per The Athletic. "I felt the process was legitimate and fair. I have no sour grapes. We made our best effort. And I appreciated the fact he had an open mind. A lot of teams that put together presentations and didn't get in the door, which I'd have to believe was an even worse feeling."

Evans went on to say the Giants pitch involved using a six-man rotation, which Ohtani was receptive to. However, they couldn't offer the DH, which was a fatal flaw. Evans also said that there was a perception Ohtani wanted to play for a team who hadn't featured a prominent Japanese player beforehand. San Francisco debuted Japanese-born pitcher Masanori Murakami in the 1960's, but theoretically that was far before Ohtani's time.

With San Francisco in need of its star, expect some interest from their end.