Shohei Ohtani, other Dodgers discuss nuances between Jared Jones, Paul Skenes after seeing both this week
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After being sent down on strikes 14 times in 11 innings against Paul Skenes and Jared Jones the past two nights, the Los Angeles Dodgers are talking about the similarities and differences between the Pittsburgh Pirates’ two rookie flamethrowing pitchers.
“They both throw hard. But what really stands out is that they throw at a different angle. Different delivery,” said Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani through interpreter Will Ireton after Wednesday’s 10-6 Pirates win.
Ohtani, the second-leading hitter in all of Major League Baseball (.322), struck out twice against Jones and hit into a double play Tuesday night before managing to get a single off of Aroldis Chapman in the eighth inning.
Jared Jones vs. Shohei Ohtani ????
Play of the Day presented by @STIHLUSA pic.twitter.com/3U4DPSNyvN
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) June 5, 2024
Against Skenes, Ohtani struck out in his first at-bat on three pitches over 100 miles per hour but then homered and singled off Skenes in his next two at-bats.
Paul Skenes ???? Shohei Ohtani: The best thing @notthefakeSVP saw today ⚾ pic.twitter.com/nourTWpJmL
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“The stuff itself was really good. In my first at-bat, I really couldn’t put together good swings,” Ohtani said. “Rather than the velocity, it’s really the angle and the release. I made the adjustment the second at-bat.”
Skenes had eight strikeouts and just one walk in five innings. But he gave up six hits and three earned runs, including two homers. Jones struck out six over six innings but was scoreless, working around six hits and three walks en route to a 1-0 Pirates win.
As for Jason Heyward, he had two walks and a strikeout against Jones then he went 1 for 2 against Skenes with a double.
“Both are really good pitchers,” Heyward said. “I feel like (Tuesday) we had some good at-bats. A few balls just missed going out. It’s part of the game.”
By the second time through the lineup against Skenes, did the Dodgers finally get used to seeing so much heat from those two starters — to say nothing of Chapman and David Bednar coming out of the bullpen?
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts gave some credence to that notion. But he said the bigger issue was with the diligence of the Dodgers hitters on Wednesday as opposed to Tuesday.
“There might have been a little bit to that. But there was more intentionality to hunting our zone, really trying to be aggressive to the zone,” Roberts said. “I don’t know if it was because we had Jones (Tuesday) night or just because we executed a game plan better. I’m not sure.”
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Some have made the argument that the Pirates should try to break up Jones and Skenes so that the two hard-throwing right-handers aren’t seen on back-to-back nights by the same team when they pitch consecutively during a series. Perhaps it would be wise to throw a softer-throwing lefty like Bailey Falter in between the two so as to throw off the timing of the hitters and perhaps force some platoon changes by the opposing manager on consecutive nights.
But Dodgers infielder Gavin Lux, who went a combined 0 for 4 with three strikeouts against Jones and Skenes, said that’s overthinking things.
“There aren’t too many starters out there that are throwing 100. So it’s not like you are seeing it every day anyway,” Lux said. “Paul is coming from a lower slot. Probably a little more of a quick arm. Jared is a little bit longer of a stroke with a completely different extension. So I think it’s two completely different fastballs.”
Another argument against tinkering with the rotation is that if the Pirates put Falter between Jones and Skenes, then Skenes and Mitch Keller have to go back-to-back. As a result, maybe it’d be Keller — who has been pitching quite well over his past five starts — that would end up hurt by the adjustment.
Or, if you break those two up as well, then you just have Skenes tossing before Jones, and you run into the inverse of the same problem.
Regardless, the problem is a good one to have. And for the Pirates, as most of the past three decades have illustrated, good problems are not the kind this franchise typically has.