Pittsburg, PA
Pirates’ Paul Skenes Misses Top Spot in Rookie Rankings
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and for as Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes was in his first season in the big leagues, he wasn’t the only rookie to have a stellar season.
MLB.com’s Jim Callis ranked the rookies from the 2024 season based on their long-term value and had Skenes at No. 3. The Pirates ace trailed Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio who was No. 1 and San Diego Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill at No. 2.
Callis noted how good all three players were in 2024 and how one could make an argument for either of the three without receiving much pushback.
“You could list those players in any order and easily support your argument,” Callis writes. “The call here is the position players over Skenes because of the fragility of pitchers, and Chourio over Merrill because he’s a year younger and has more upside. It will be great fun to watch how their careers play out over the next 15-20 years.”
Skenes had a historic rookie season, going 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA over his 23 starts and he set a Pirates rookie record with 170 strikeouts. Skenes was the first pitcher in MLB history to have an ERA below 2.20 and over 150 strikeouts in their first 21 games and the second pitcher since 1913 to have an ERA below 2.00 through their first 22 appearances.
Skenes is a finalist for the NL Rookie of the Year and the Cy Young award, making him the first pitcher to be in the top three for both awards since Jose Fernandez of the Miami Marlins in 2013. The Pirates star is the fifth pitcher in MLB history to be a finalist for both awards, and the late great Los Angeles Dodgers ace Fernando Valenzuela is the only pitcher to win both when he accomplished the feat in 1981.
Skenes was also the first rookie pitcher since Dodgers right-hander Hideo Nomo in 1995 to start an All-Star game.
“Among rookies age 22 or younger who worked at least 125 innings, Skenes posted the best ERA+ (214), the best ERA (1.96) and the second-best K/BB ratio (5.3) since the lively ball was introduced in 1920, the third-best strikeout rate (11.5 per nine innings) and the sixth-best hit rate (6.4 per nine),” Callis wrote.
Skenes’ teammate, rookie right-hander Jared Jones also made the list at No. 15.
The winner of the NL Rookie of the Year will be announced on Monday at 6 p.m. ET on MLB Network. Skenes, Chourio and Merrill are the three finalists for the award in the National League.
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Pittsburg, PA
Where to watch Colorado Rockies vs Pittsburgh Pirates: TV channel, start time, streaming for
What to know about MLB’s ABS robot umpire strike zone system
MLB launches ABS challenge system as players test robot umpire calls in a groundbreaking season.
Baseball is back and finding what channel your favorite team is playing on has become a little bit more confusing since MLB announced plans to produce and distribute broadcasts for nearly a third of the league.
We’re here to help. Here’s everything you need to know Thursday as the Colorado Rockies visit the Pittsburgh Pirates.
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Gas prices continue to sit near the $5 mark for the better part of the Pittsburgh region. Not only is it impacting people’s wallets, but it’s also hitting the bottom lines of first responders’ operations.
While gas prices are not impacting day-to-day operations, budgets are always tight, and if prices stay high, it could have some long-term impacts. First responders say they’ll still come when you call 911, so there’s no need to panic, but there is some concern behind the scenes.
“We can’t charge more for our services. The only way to weather the storm is to become more efficient,” Regional Emergency Support Quick Response Service director Mike Gallagher said.
RESQRS said gas is normally about $2,500 to $3,000 a month. From March to April, it was $5,500. The ambulance they wanted to get this year is now on hold as costs go up.
“It definitely has affected other parts of the business and how we operate,” Gallagher said over Zoom.
It’s the same for volunteer firefighters. Southern Allegheny Valley Emergency Services had its bill go from $300 to $400, up to $1,000 last month. This price spike was, of course, never anticipated when making the budget last year.
“It absolutely wasn’t. We just have to take money from other things and reprioritize,” SAVES fire chief Mike Daniher said.
Medic Rescue in Bridgewater, Beaver County, covers that county and takes patients to Wexford and Pittsburgh hospitals. They easily rack up hundreds of miles a day driving. Insurance doesn’t cover gas spikes, and fuel reimbursements are set from the prior year.
“I don’t see how it would be sustainable in the long term without some changes in financing,” Medic Rescue director of operations Bill Pasquale said.
An immediate impact for many services is putting new equipment on the back burner. While grants can be used for that, there’s no guarantee it’s accepted.
Pittsburg, PA
Pittsburgh will have afternoon storm chances on Wednesday with gusty winds and lightning
It will be stormy this afternoon, and then cooler for the rest of the work week.
Temperatures then warm up with record-setting temperatures possible early next week. It’s going to be a busy stretch of weather. Let’s get right into it.
Rain chances today are low overall. The headline is the storm chance that occurs this afternoon. Gusty winds, frequent lightning, and isolated but intense downpours are expected as a narrow line of storms develops and rolls through Western Pennsylvania. The line of storms will be intensifying as it moves from the west to the east.
Right now, it looks like the storms will roll through between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.
By the time you see this blog, our best chance for morning rain should have come and gone. Rain totals will not be very impressive today; most will see less than 0.05 inches of rain.
That excludes rain coming from afternoon storms.
Afternoon storms could add another fifth of an inch of rain for those who see the most ‘intense’ cells sliding through their areas. Temperatures in the morning are in the 50s. We will quickly rise up to the mid-60s for temperatures this afternoon ahead of storms. Temperatures will then dip back down to the 50s for the rest of the day, with brisk winds coming in from the northwest at around 15 mph.
Thursday highs will only hit the mid-50s.
We stay cool through Friday morning. We’d have to worry about frost on Friday if it wasn’t for the cloud cover that’s expected. Friday highs will be near 70°. Saturday and Sunday highs are expected to hit the low 80s both days.
A perfect ‘storm’ of low humidity levels, plenty of sunshine, and a strengthening sun angle will allow us to potentially see record highs early next week. I have high temperatures in the 90s on both Monday and Tuesday next week.
The record high for Monday is 91°, and that is what I am forecasting for a high.
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