No. 1 draft pick Paul Skenes believes he is "close" to the major leagues
Paul Skenes was just drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates last night. He was the first overall selection after being heralded as the best pitching prospect since Stephen Strasburg. Having pitched in college puts him a little closer to the majors than, say, a high school pitcher who was drafted like Noble Meyer.
Many pundits have said that Skenes needs to be on the fast track to the majors and for what it's worth, the pitcher himself believes he could do that. When asked on his timeline, he admitted that he thinks it won't be a lengthy minor league career.
Paul Skenes on reaching the major leagues: "I think I’m close. I don’t know exactly how close, but I’m going to do everything in my power to get there as soon as possible."
According to Jason Mackey, Skenes is confident:
"I think I’m close. I don’t know exactly how close, but I’m going to do everything in my power to get there as soon as possible."
Skenes dominated the college game and has some of the best stuff of a pitcher in any farm system in the major leagues. There is, however, a talent gap. Hitters at the college level are perhaps a little above the lower levels of the minor leagues and maybe on similar talent level as AA hitters.
Paul Skenes looking for quick trip to majors
However, there's a gap between AA and AAA and there's an even more substantial gap between AA and AAA. Paul Skenes may be ready for the majors sooner than others would be, but he's still going to have to adjust and perform at each level before promotion.
It's not likely that he starts in anything lower than AA and he might even be a AAA pitcher right away, but he'll still have to adjust and then wait for the time to move up.
Service time is also an issue he has to contend with. The longer he's in the minors getting ready, the longer his first MLB contract is. Many teams have hesitated to bring players up so they can squeeze a little more time out of them.
It remains to be seen what the Pirates will do in particular with Skenes, who is a bit of a unique prospect with regard to that. Still, the talent and work ethic is there for the former LSU ace to make his debut sooner than later.