Comparing Paul Skenes to a forgotten Pirates two-way prospect

Shohei Ohtani is the best baseball player in the world -- and he didn’t even pitch this year. When fully healthy, Ohtani is arguably the greatest of all time, given his talent in the box and on the mound. Before the emergence of the Japanese phenom, there had not been a true two-way player in a century. The comparisons to Babe Ruth are warranted. Sure, there have been some outliers in the years since, but we really haven’t seen anyone pitch and hit to that level.

Many Pirates fans recently wondered if their prized first overall draft pick Paul Skenes would get the chance to do both. While this would be fun to see in spring training, realistically, it poses considerable risk. Skenes, as you may already know, was a two-way star for the Air Force Falcons before he transferred to LSU and became a full-time starter.

However, he wasn’t the first Pirates prospect that thrived in this dual role in college. Let’s reminisce over what could have been with John Van Benschoten.

Paul Skenes won the John Olerud Award in 2022 as college baseball’s best two-way player, a season in which he hit .314 with 13 home runs ... and also pitched to a 10-3 record, 3.14 ERA with 96 strikeouts. This was nowhere near as good the award’s namesake's best effort; Olerud had one of the greatest college baseball seasons of all time in 1988.

That year, he hit an insane .464, with 23 home runs, 81 RBI, and a 15-0 record with a 2.49 ERA and 113 strikeouts for the Washington State Cougars. There have been other notable two-way prospects during the intervening years, such as local product Brendan McKay, who won the Olerud Award three times, as well as the Dick Howser Trophy and Golden Spikes Award during his years with Louisville.

But we should not forget the legacy of Van Benschoten, the good and the bad. He was a legend at Kent State over 20 years ago, leading the Golden Flashes to a MAC championship and NCAA Tournament appearance in 2001. That year, Van Benschoten hit .440 with 34 home runs, 84 RBI, and 23 stolen bases, and performed well as a pitcher, hurling to the tune of a 2.77 ERA with eight saves in 48.2 innings pitched. The Pirates took him eighth overall in the 2001 draft, and wanted him to become a full-time pitcher.

Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes was once a two-way top prospect, just like John Van Benschoten.

A similar experiment was conducted with Clint Johnston, a former top prospect out of Vanderbilt. Johnston was also a two-way player in college and drafted in the first round, 15th overall in 1998. He slumped in his sophomore minor league season, and never made it past High-A in the Pirates organization. Van Benschoten found greater success, including a scoreless inning pitched in the 2003 All-Star Futures Game at U.S. Cellular Field.

He made his MLB debut late in 2004, starting five games to mixed results. Unfortunately, shoulder injuries became an issue for him, as he missed all of the 2005 season and most of 2006. He made his way back to the majors in 2007 and 2008 and struggled, with an ERA over 10 for both seasons. Still, he was effective those years in Indianapolis, which granted him multiple opportunities to prove himself on the big-league stage. Sadly, this was it for Van Benschoten in Pittsburgh, another highly touted prospect with so much potential that went nowhere. He bounced around in the minors and independent ball the next few seasons before calling it quits.

Who’s to blame for what happened? Can you really put it all on one player, the coaching staff or the organization as a whole? This is a question that’s asked many times that typically isn’t answered in earnest. While it’s easy to place blame, sometimes things just don’t work out, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Call it bad luck.

Fortunately for Pirates fans, we don’t have to worry about the development of Skenes. I’d say he’s already surpassed expectations, given recent failures with other top prospects. We all knew he was going to be good, but can you honestly say you thought he’d be this good, one of the best starting pitchers in baseball right away? This was a slam dunk pick that anyone could have made. Skenes started this year's All-Star Game as a 22-year-old just over a year removed from the SEC. He should easily win National League Rookie of the Year. Sorry, Padres fans!

Let’s hope he can stay healthy and lead Pittsburgh to their next World Series title, earning a few Cy Young Awards along the way. Crazier things have happened. I choose to remain an optimist.