Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes is perhaps among the best pitchers in baseball. However when the 23-year-old right-hander’s time in MLB is finished, Skenes has an concept of what he desires to do subsequent: landscaping.

Forward of his begin in opposition to the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday, Skenes took to the sphere at PNC Park to talk with the grounds crew, by way of the Pittsburgh Submit-Gazette’s Noah Hiles, staying there for greater than 20 minutes. The Pirates went on to get a 1-0 win over the Cardinals.

Hiles requested Skenes in regards to the second after the sport. The pitcher stated that he was bored, and determined to move on the market through the hours earlier than his begin. He additionally added that, per Hiles, “he would love to chop grass professionally every time his baseball days are over.”

It’s widespread sufficient for skilled athletes to dip their toe into different pursuits. A number of athletes have tried their hand at music; Nikola Jokić famously loves his horses. However it’s a bit of uncommon that Skenes, who’s nicely on his method to making lots of of tens of millions of {dollars}, desires nothing greater than to take a seat on a driving mower as soon as his time in baseball is over.

Skenes’ post-career plans are additionally sudden as a result of his MLB stardom is simply starting. The second-year pitcher is crushing it as soon as once more, incomes an ERA of two.03 and a 0.182 batting common in opposition to, each the second-best in MLB behind Houston Astros ace Hunter Brown. A lot of Skenes’ energy is in his consistency: He’s pitched 111 innings (fourth-most within the league), has notched 115 strikeouts (ninth-most) and has a WHIP of 0.92 (sixth-most).

Skenes pitched 5 innings in Tuesday’s slim win, permitting 5 hits however notching 5 strikeouts to maintain the Cardinals scoreless. A sacrifice fly from Pirates catcher Henry Davis within the eighth inning turned out to be the distinction within the 1-0 victory.

Regardless of Skenes’ lights-out pitching, Pittsburgh has been struggling this season. The Pirates are 38-50, sitting on the very backside of the NL Central. Nonetheless, Pittsburgh has appeared sturdy over the previous few video games: With Wednesday’s 5-0 win over St. Louis, the Pirates bullpen allowed zero runs from the Cardinals to finish the three-game collection sweep.