Okay, so I finally got around to messing with Paul Skenes in MLB The Show. Heard all the buzz, you know? Everyone talking about this guy, the fastball, the whole deal. Figured I had to see what it was like in the game myself.
Fired up the console the other night. My first thought was Diamond Dynasty, gotta get his card. Went to the marketplace… wow. People were asking a lot of stubs for him already. Didn’t really feel like spending everything I had saved up just for one pitcher, even if he is the new hot thing. Checked my packs, hoping maybe I got lucky. Nope, nothing there. Typical.
So, I decided, forget Diamond Dynasty for now. Too much work, too many stubs. Just wanted to pitch with the guy. Went straight into just a regular ‘Play Now’ game. Picked the Pirates, obviously. Made sure Skenes was my starting pitcher. That was easy enough, thankfully.
Pitching with Skenes
Alright, first inning. First batter steps up. Decided to just let the fastball rip. And man, it’s fast. Like, really fast on the screen. The catcher’s mitt pops loud. Saw the radar gun graphic hit 101 mph right away. It actually felt kinda cool, throwing that hard in a video game.
I use the meter pitching, mostly. His control felt okay, didn’t feel like I was spraying it all over the place which was nice. You still gotta time it right, of course. But throwing that fastball, especially high in the zone, seemed pretty effective against the computer hitters. They were late on it a lot.
Tried mixing in his other pitches too. He’s got that pitch everyone calls a ‘splinker’, kind of a splitter/sinker hybrid? In the game, it drops hard. Got a few strikeouts with that, guys swinging over the top of it. Threw some sliders too. The fastball is definitely the main attraction though.
- The velocity feels legit.
- His off-speed stuff has good movement.
- Control seemed manageable, wasn’t too wild.
Did I Dominate?
Well, I pitched about six innings with him in that game. Had some good moments. Struck out the side once, felt pretty good about that. Lots of swings and misses on the fastball. There was one inning, though, things got a little shaky. Guy hit a double, then I walked a batter. Runners on first and second, one out. Felt the pressure a bit, even against the computer.
Managed to get a popup and then another strikeout with the high heat to get out of the jam. That felt satisfying. Didn’t give up any runs while he was in, so yeah, guess he did pretty well for me. It was definitely fun seeing those high velocity numbers pop up pitch after pitch.
Compared to other pitchers I use regularly in the game, he feels different. That velocity just stands out. It makes you feel like you have a real weapon. Sometimes other hard throwers in the game don’t quite feel as fast as their ratings say, but Skenes? Yeah, you feel it.
So, that was my little experiment playing with Paul Skenes in The Show. Just a casual game, nothing too serious. But it was pretty fun. The hype kinda translates into the game, makes pitching with the Pirates a bit more exciting. Now I’m actually tempted to go back and grind for that Diamond Dynasty card. Maybe. We’ll see.
