Every time Paul Skenes starts, an entire sport marvels — but also holds its breath
About once a week last summer, Jim Riggleman found himself checking the Pittsburgh Pirates schedule to see when Paul Skenes pitched next.Riggleman spent almost five decades in baseball. He managed five major league teams and coached for four other clubs, but never the Pirates. And yet here he was, 72 years old and out of the game, reaching for the TV remote at his home near Clearwater, Fla., and watching the last-place Pirates. That’s the effect Skenes, the National League’s reigning Rookie of the Year and current Cy Young favorite, has on baseball people.Advertisement“It looks almost effortless out there,” Riggleman said by phone recently.There is appreciation in that. But there is also apprehension.Every so often, a starting pitcher comes along and captures baseball’s collective consciousness for a time, exceeding the hype and mystifying big-league hitters. Fans flock to the ballpark […]
