Paul Skenes’ Opening Day start lasted two outs. The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner was chased from the mound after throwing just 37 pitches, allowing five earned runs, the shortest season debut by a reigning Cy Young winner in MLB history.
Paul Skenes Couldn’t Survive the First Inning on Opening Day
The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner lasted two outs. That’s the sentence. That’s the lede.
Paul Skenes was chased from his Opening Day start against the Mets after throwing just 37 pitches, allowing five earned runs on four hits and two walks while striking out just one. It was the shortest outing of his major league career, and per Elias Sports Bureau, the shortest season-debut start by a reigning Cy Young winner in MLB history.
Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY SportsFor context: Skenes gave up a grand total of five runs over his final six starts last season combined. He matched that in two-thirds of an inning on Thursday.
To be fair to Skenes, he didn’t exactly get much help. Oneil Cruz had himself an adventure in center field, battling the Citi Field sun, and the BABIP on the damage was ugly. Skenes acknowledged as much afterward, saying the hard contact wasn’t really there and that the batting average on balls in play “will go down as the season goes on.” He’s probably right. But Opening Day box scores don’t come with asterisks, and this one is going to look weird next to his name for a while.
Oneil Cruz completely misread this Brett Baty fly ball, and it sailed over his head for a bases-clearing triple. Citi Field is loud right now, as the Mets have already made Paul Skenes throw 33 pitches. He's recorded just one out.Mets 5, Pirates 2, bottom one. pic.twitter.com/yeKQGyNyz4
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) March 26, 2026And with the roughest outing of Skenes’ career now in the books, it’s worth mentioning how close he came to not being a Pirate at all heading into this season.
The Yankees Reportedly Tried to Trade for Paul Skenes Last Summer
Jon Heyman reported on Thursday that the New York Yankees made a run at Skenes at last year’s trade deadline, and the package they had in mind was serious. According to Heyman, a deal “might have included” Cam Schlittler, Carlos Lagrange, George Lombard Jr., and Spencer Jones — a haul that would have featured two MLB Pipeline Top 100 prospects in Lombard (No. 32) and Lagrange (No. 79).
Pittsburgh obviously said no, and has no intention of trading their ace. At least for now. As Heyman mentions in his story, last July’s attempt to land Skenes probably won’t be the Yankees’ final attempt.
t.co/FC4cuOpHJm Pirates are so against trading Skenes they wouldn’t even listen to Yankees offer — but NYY, believing there may be reason to think Skenes wants to be in NY (true or not), will likely try again again down the road
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) March 27, 2026Top Prospects Are Stealing the Show on Opening Day
We’ve genuinely never seen an Opening Day quite like this one from a prospect standpoint. A record 20 players from MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 list opened the season on a big league roster, the most since Pipeline published its first Top 100 back in 2012, and a whole lot of them made sure you knew they were there.
Start with the history. For the first time ever, three players homered in their first career MLB games on the same Opening Day: Carson Benge, Munetaka Murakami, and JJ Wetherholt. That’s not a thing that has happened before. Ever.
Munetaka Murakami hits a MOONSHOT for his first Major League home run ? pic.twitter.com/rU8MOXna9l
— MLB (@MLB) March 26, 2026Benge (Pipeline No. 16) reached base three times in his Mets debut and launched a solo shot for his first career hit, earning a Citi Field curtain call in the process. He’s just the second Met to go deep on Opening Day in his big league debut, joining Kazuo Matsui back in 2004.
Wetherholt (No. 5) was even more violent about it — he took a 0-2 fastball and drove it 425 feet to center field for the Cardinals in his second at-bat, then played a key role in a sixth-inning rally that we’ll get to in a moment. Chase DeLauter (No. 46) went out and hit two home runs for the Guardians, because why not?
But the story of the day among the rookies was Kevin McGonigle. The Tigers infielder (Pipeline’s No. 2 overall prospect) jumped on the first pitch of his first big league plate appearance and ripped a two-run double to right. He didn’t stop there. McGonigle finished with four hits on the day, becoming just the second Tigers player since 1900 to do that in their debut, joining Billy Bean in 1987.
© Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn ImagesJustin Crawford (No. 53 and son of former major leaguer Carol Crawford) added two hits for the Phillies and got his first career knock out of the way on the first pitch he saw in the big leagues.
The kids are more than alright.
Extra Innings
In news that has nothing to do with baseball and everything to do with family drama, Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm is suing his parents. Per reports, Bohm filed a lawsuit against his mother and father, alleging they misappropriated earnings from his professional baseball career. Not exactly the Opening Day storyline anyone had on their bingo card.The Phillies’ Alec Bohm sues his parents, alleging they mismanaged his finances t.co/LgOnICJzYF
— The Philadelphia Inquirer (@PhillyInquirer) March 26, 2026 Barry Bonds made an appearance in the Netflix broadcast booth on Wednesday and dropped a nugget worth revisiting on Opening Day: George Steinbrenner wanted him in pinstripes badly enough to make him the highest-paid player in baseball during the 1992 offseason — but put a deadline on the offer. Bonds didn’t bite in time, the Yankees moved on, and he went home to San Francisco instead, signing a six-year deal worth just under $44 million with the Giants that made him the game’s highest-paid player anyway. Just a fun alternate-history reminder that one of the greatest hitters who ever lived came very close to being a Yankee.t.co/V8emBAY2YV Exclusive: Agent confirms Bonds’ seemingly fanciful tale about the call from The Boss with an offer and a deadline — but one thing to note: Steinbrenner was banned at the time and not allowed to be calling
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) March 27, 2026 Jacob Misiorowski looked like an ace on Thursday, mowing down the White Sox for 11 strikeouts over five innings of one-run ball in the Brewers’ season opener. The only blemish was a Chase Meidroth leadoff homer in the first. After that, it was a long day to be a White Sox hitter. The 11 punchouts set a new Brewers franchise record for strikeouts in a season opener, topping marks set by Ben Sheets (2002) and matched by Freddy Peralta in back-to-back years.All 11 of Jacob Misiorowski's strikeouts, a Brewers Opening Day record pic.twitter.com/LsdUaPwZQx
— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) March 26, 2026 Jayson Heyward called it a career:Jason Heyward is Officially Hanging 'Em Up t.co/bNOk8cogyY
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) March 27, 2026Hence then, the article about mlbits paul skenes chased early yankees pursuit of ace rookies make history more was published today ( ) and is available on Bleacher Nation ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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