Skenes discovered his splinker by accident.
In college, Skenes was working on developing his sinker in college, but it never really became the pitch he wanted it to be. Then one day in spring training he was messing around with it while playing catch and it came off his index finger instead of his middle finger. He noticed it felt and moved differently."It was fine in college, like whatever...I was playing catch one day, and it basically accidentally came off my index finger and moved how it moves now.
The 22-year-old has lived up to his billing as the top pitcher from the 2023 MLB draft and one of the best pitching prospects of all-time. So far in his rookie season, he is 10-2 with a 2.10 ERA, a 0.99 WHIP and 151 strikeouts in 120 innings. Yes, he has a 100-plus mph fastball and a devastating slider, but his 95 mph "splinker" might be his best pitch. And it all happened by accident.Ryan Phillips is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in digital media since 2009, spending eight years at The Big Lead before joining SI in 2024. Phillips also co-hosts The Assembly Call Podcast about Indiana Hoosiers basketball and previously worked at Bleacher Report.
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