BREDENTON, Fla. — Despite the low atmosphere of spring training, the Yankees managed to get some cracks at Paul Skens Tuesday afternoon, but he was as solid as those who aren't facing him would expect.
“He has a lot, lot, lots of talent,” said Everson Pereira, who didn't play Skens last year due to injuries. “Good arm. He threw a great pitch. …He's very good.”
Ben Rice reflected the take when asked about the 2024 NL Rookie of the Year, with a shrug and laughing, “I mean, he's a good pitcher.”
Rice had two flyouts against Suken in the 9-1 exhibition defeat to the Pirates at Recom Park.
The Yankees faced Suken once during their star rookie campaign.
In his second regular season game, he pitched two innings and threw 23 pitches (17 on strike) while recording three strikeouts.
Pirates. Kim Klement Neitzel-Immagn Images
On Tuesday he made the Yankees scoreless in three innings, but they were closer to the rhythm of the third-top Skens.
Ismael Munguia chose from the All-Star right-handed and stole the second and third thefts.
Anthony Volpe opposed the strike, which was called to lead to a strikeout, but the challenge was successful and he was willing to walk to first bass and left Jazz Chisholm Jr. on the plate with two runners and two outs.
On another stroke of luck, Chisholm's pop foul was overlooked by Pirate catcher Joey Bart, but the second baseman continued his strike to keep Suken unharmed. It was only four innings that the Yankees got on the board against Skens as Trent Grisham ripped a solo homer to the right field.
“I mean, he's tough,” said Yankees bench coach Brad Orsk. “They had some good at-bats out there. Grisch obviously got that one ball. Munguia had good at-bats. He had some good at-bats, but he's a tough mission.”
The Skenes left their third spring outing in four innings with five strikeouts, four hits and one acquisition.
Still, it was a valuable experience for young campers, such as Spencer Jones. Spencer Jones only saw major leaguers during spring training, but he took a walk through Skens in a six-pitch battle.
“If there's nothing else, he sees what he has to face when he gets to the big leagues. It's not necessarily an easy task. With Paul Skenes, it's a more difficult task than usual,” Ausmus said of Jones, who was reassigned to minor league camp after the game.
“It really helps,” Rice said. “Whenever you can see quality arms there, it's fun to test yourself a bit and see how things unfold.”
