The Moonshot: Paul Skenes debut, Dodgers takeaways, first manager fired

Well, we believe in exit velocity, bat flips, launch angles, stealing home, the hanging curveball, Big League Chew, sausage races, and that unwritten rules of any kind are self-indulgent, overrated crap. We believe Greg Maddux was an actual wizard. We believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment protecting minor league baseball and that pitch framing is both an art and a science. We believe in the sweet spot, making WARP not war, letting your closer chase a two-inning save, and we believe love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good, too.

Welcome to The Moonshot.

1. Rank your excitement for Paul Skenes' inevitable MLB debut on a scale of Stephen Strasburg to Shohei Ohtani.

John Buhler: On a scale of Christian Bethancourt to Julio Teheran, I am closer to Jeff Francoeur than I am to Andrelton Simmons down here in Braves Country. The fact I know who Paul Skenes is says everything you need to know about the Pirates’ top prospect. I know he pitched at LSU because of his famous girlfriend, whose name I don’t remember… What is important to know is Skenes might be able to save the Pirates like Jason Bay never could, and he won’t let them down like Barry Bonds’ cocky attitude and glass arm combo did in the 1992 NLCS. Jason Kendalls don’t grow on trees. Everybody knows that, so we dance in the streets!

Terrence Jordan: As a Tar Heel grad and Mets fan, I’ll give Paul Skenes my top rating, which is known as a Matt Harvey. Are there fans of the Bayou Bengals that also wave Terrible Towels? I don’t know, but Skenes’ stuff is so electric that Pirates fans won’t be able to help falling in love with him. He’s been nearly unhittable in AAA, and his arrival can’t come soon enough as the Buccos have fallen off after a 5-0 start to the season. Harvey fanned 11 in his debut and quickly became known as the Dark Knight. Skenes is from California, but maybe his LSU ties and throwing ability can make him Gambit.

Cody Williams: Using the vaunted and storied scale of 2022 Red Sox Ryan Brasier coming out of the bullpen to 1999 Pedro Martinez having the ball, it feels much closer to the latter. It’s baseball, so we truly never know exactly how this is going to transpire for Paul Skenes (just ask Jackson Holliday how his MLB debut went earlier this season). Having said that and with all due respect and no intended sacrilege to Buhler’s beloved Stache ‘n’ Gas Spencer Strider, I’m expecting a similar impact from Skenes – a starter with the stuff to just blow hitters away, but also potentially get clipped (hard) on occasion. Given how much of a joy Strider is to watch when healthy, though, I’m ready to see him gas up the Three Rivers. 

Robert Murray: As far as pitching prospect debuts go, this is the most anticipated debut of my lifetime. I have heard from countless people throughout baseball – people with the Pirates, rival scouts and agents – who have seen Skenes pitch and absolutely rave about him. They all say that he looks like a future star and his numbers this season – a .099 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 27.1 innings – back that up. He should be called up soon, though how soon is anyone’s guess. “I thought this past start [in Triple-A] would be his last one,” one baseball source said.

Zachary Rotman: As a New York Mets fan, I just saw Christian Scott, the best pitching prospect in the Mets farm system in a decade, make his MLB debut. He was lights out. That’s nothing compared to this. Paul Skenes is unbelievable, as evidenced by his 0.99 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 27.1 AAA innings. He’s arguably the most highly-touted pitching prospect I’ve ever seen. He has the stuff to be the best pitcher in baseball and one of the greatest ever. He’s must-see TV, and should be really fun to watch against the Chicago Cubs.

2. With the caveat that three games are just three games, what was the biggest takeaway from the Dodgers’ utter domination of the Braves last weekend?

John Buhler: That series didn’t happen! Okay, it did, and I look like a complete jackass for saying the Braves were going to be amazing vs. the Dodgers over in Chavez Ravine. If there are any positive takeaways from the series, other than it is over, I would say that Max Fried’s chances of signing with his boyhood team in the Boys in Blue just took a huge hit in his free agency. I am also thankful that Atlanta finally gets to play a softer part of its schedule after drawing Cleveland, Seattle and Los Angeles back-to-back-to-back… When does Georgia play?

Terrence Jordan: After getting whooped by a combined score of 20-6, the biggest takeaway for the Braves is that the Dodgers are just flat-out better right now. The Dodgers’ stars are hitting: Shohei Ohtani, Max Muncy, and Teoscar Hernandez combined for eight homers in the series, and even with that said, Mookie Betts might still be the MVP at the quarter mark of the season. Atlanta’s stars, on the other hand, haven’t played to expectations, with Ronald Acuna Jr., Matt Olson, and Austin Riley all scuffling their way to uncharacteristically slow starts. The Braves won the World Series in 2021 after losing Acuna for the year, but overcoming the loss of ace Spencer Strider is going to be even tougher, especially against a team like the Dodgers, who can back up their fearsome lineup with Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and a soon-to-return Walker Buehler on the mound.

Cody Williams: That Shohei Ohtani guy might be pretty good. While we’ve seen guys like Marcell Ozuna pick up the slack for slumping Ronald Acuña Jr. and Matt Olson, among others, it’s going to be rendered a lot less effective when Ohtani is arguably the best hitter in baseball right now with no other Dodgers stars truly slumping right now (unless you want to consider Freddie Freeman hitting sub-.300 a slump). The Braves and Dodgers should be 1A and 1B in some order in terms of the best lineup in baseball, but that gap is much wider currently and, with LA also having the edge on the bump, the series bore out what tiers these two teams are on at this current juncture. But hey, 162 is a lot of season, and there’s still plenty that could change.

Robert Murray: That the Dodgers are really, really, really good and have a shot to be historically good. The Braves have been one of the best teams in the National League for years, and the Dodgers completely dominated them. And to think that the Dodgers are not yet at full strength … their ceiling is scary high. Chris Taylor, Gavin Lux have struggled offensively. The rotation has an abundance of injuries. The bullpen has struggled at times. Yet they are 25-13 and lead the NL West by 6.5 games. Silly.

Zachary Rotman: The biggest takeaway from this past weekend’s series is the top of the Dodgers’ order is simply unfair. We can argue about which lineup is better top to bottom between these two teams, but it’s simply impossible to pitch to the top of Los Angeles’ order. This past weekend it was Shohei Ohtani who stole the show. Next time they face off it could be Freddie Freeman. If they see each other in the postseason, it could be Mookie Betts. Let’s not forget guys like Will Smith, Max Muncy, and Teoscar Hernandez either. If the Dodgers can ever get their starting pitchers fully healthy, they look unbeatable.

3. Can anyone beat Oli Marmol to the finish line as the first manager fired this year?

John Buhler: No chance. Oli Marmol is more cooked than Frank Reich was in Charlotte last year. The Redbirds might honestly tarmac him, he is so bad. He couldn’t spell Oli if you spotted him an O and an L. I don’t remember the Cardinals being this consistently bad since I started reading books in 1995. At this point, just let Jim Edmonds manage the ballclub from the booth.

Terrence Jordan: Marlins manager Skip Schumacher might fire himself just to escape the Miami dumpster fire, but in all seriousness, give me John Schneider of the Blue Jays as the first manager to go. Toronto is 4-10 after a solid start, and currently sit in last place of the hyper-competitive AL East, 7.5 games back of the Orioles and Yankees. The Blue Jays got bounced in the Wild Card round by the Twins last year, the first postseason series win for Minnesota in 10 tries, and have a lot of work to do to even sniff the playoffs this year. The Cardinals are 1.5 games worse in the standings, but the Jays undoubtedly had higher expectations this year, which means Schneider’s seat is hotter than Marmol’s.

Cody Williams: I’m not even convinced that the Cardinals fire Oli Marmol at this point. Hell, they might even give him another extension. Does he deserve to get his pink slip? Absolutely. Even as an objective observer of St. Louis, this club is being categorically mismanaged day in and day out, and it seems as if every player on the roster feels that in their bones. But here’s the kicker: This is just the same tune we were singing last year when the Cards finished 20 games under .500, which is when Marmol not only kept his job but got a new deal this past offseason. So while there is unequivocally no better candidate to be fired in early May of the 2024 season, I’m still not buying that John Mozeliak and the Cardinals front office will actually do it. 

Robert Murray: The Cardinals’ decision to extend Marmol before the season was baffling, and looks even worse now. Yes, the roster that he has is a mess. But the Cardinals’ disastrous start has put him squarely on the hot seat. Skip Schumaker and Alex Cora loom as strong managerial free agents at the end of the year and both have ties to the Cardinals; Schumaker played in St. Louis from 2005-2012 and also served as the team’s bench coach. Cora, meanwhile, was the manager under Cardinals executive Chaim Bloom with the Boston Red Sox and Bloom is a logical replacement for president of baseball operations John Mozeliak.

Zachary Rotman: Should anyone beat Oli Marmol to the finish line? Absolutely not. The Cardinals roster is far from perfect, but it’s better than one of the worst teams in the NL which is what they’ve been since the start of 2023. Can anyone beat him? Absolutely. I mean, the Cardinals just extended him. It’s hard to envision them firing him less than one full season, and there almost certainly will be a manager fired before the end of the 2024 campaign. My guess would be Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider, who has his team underperforming once again.