Skenes Schmenes: Another former college flamethrower’s splinker may be nastier

Ever since he was called up in mid-May, Paul Skenes has stolen the show for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He has a 2.14 ERA in eight starts and 46.1 innings of work, striking out an absurd 61 batters compared to just eight walks. It might be premature to say, but Skenes already looks like one of the ten best starting pitchers in the world.

Skenes is armed with a fastball that can hit triple digits and a wipeout slider but a relatively new pitch, a "splinker" (sinker+splitter), has been arguably his most dominant offering.

How he can generate that kind of movement on a 94 mph pitch is beyond me, and how and hitter will ever be able to hit that is an even bigger mystery.

It turns out, Skenes isn't the only pitcher with a dominant splinker. In fact, an argument can be made that Los Angeles Angels reliever Ben Joyce has an even nastier one.

Ben Joyce's splinker gives Paul Skenes a run at his money

Look at this pitch. That started on the outside corner and worked its way a foot inside while registering at 99.9 mph with sink. How in the world can anyone do anything with that?

Joyce was drafted in the third round of the 2022 MLB Draft despite only being a reliever because of his stuff. He was hitting triple digits consistently with a wipeout slider while playing for the University of Tennessee, but his MLB career had gotten off to a bit of a slow start.

Joyce debuted for the Angels last season and had a 5.40 ERA in 12 appearances. He had struggled in two of his first three appearances this season after getting promoted to the majors in early June, but has been dominant since. Incorporating the splinker has been a huge reason why.

The 23-year-old has five straight scoreless appearances, throwing 7.1 innings in that stretch. He has eight strikeouts in those innings while allowing just two hits. He has been the dominant reliever that the Halos envisioned when they drafted him.

As good as Joyce's stuff is, MLB hitters can find a way to hit against a pitcher when he only has two offerings. Joyce adding a third pitch as nasty as this splinker has made him virtually impossible to hit so far.

He's not as big of a name as Skenes and might only be a reliever, but comparing the two splinkers might lean in Joyce's favor.