After cruising to All-Star starter standing after solely 11 profession begins, Paul Skenes has discovered his first uneven water as a serious league pitcher.
As soon as thought of a menace to win Nationwide League Cy Younger honors, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ star rookie is instantly not even the favourite to win Rookie of the 12 months honors at some sportsbooks. That features FanDuel, the place Skenes (+100) has been handed by one other rookie All-Star.
San Diego Padres middle fielder Jackson Merrill is now the -130 favourite to take house ROY honors.
The 22-year-old Skenes was 6-0 with a 1.90 ERA when he was named as solely the fifth rookie pitcher to start out an All-Star Sport, and the primary in nearly 30 years. The 6-foot-6 right-hander nonetheless boasts spectacular stats, together with a 7-2 report and a pair of.30 ERA, however Skenes has a 4.15 ERA in three August begins by which he has walked eight batters in 17 1/3 innings.
In the meantime, Merrill has been on fireplace through the canine days of August, posting a .310 batting common, a 1.033 OPS, 4 house runs and 14 RBIs by 58 at-bats coming into Wednesday. That has boosted his season batting common to .289 with 17 house runs and 69 RBIs.
Whereas Skenes’ Pirates have sunk to the underside of the NL Central, Merrill has helped hold the Padres within the thick of the NL West race. San Diego entered Wednesday solely three video games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers, whereas the Padres additionally sit atop the wild-card image.
There may be greater than a month for Skenes to flip the tides again, however the Pirates’ fading playoff probabilities add to the problem. He makes his subsequent begin on Thursday when Pittsburgh opens a four-game collection towards the Cincinnati Reds.
It does seem like a two-man race, with the third-shortest odds belonging to San Francisco Giants shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald as a +5000 longshot.
Skenes stays the slim favourite in some sportsbooks. That features DraftKings, the place he was provided at -120 on Wednesday forward of Merrill at -110. They had been adopted by Fitzgerald and Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio at +6000.
–Subject Stage Media
