Pirates' Paul Skenes: Adding to arsenal

Skenes has worked on a cutter and sinker this offseason, Noah Hiles of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

Skenes noted that his cutter is a variation of his slider, while his sinker is a completely new addition. He didn't commit to throwing the latter in game action, though it sounds as if the tweaks were an attempt to help Skenes pitch more efficiently and work deeper into games. Across his 23 big-league starts in 2024, Skenes completed seven innings only four times, and he was purposefully limited by the Pirates across the final month of the season. General manager Ben Cherington stated that he expects all limitations to be taken off his star pitcher this season, so Skenes' efficiency will ultimately determine his workload.