Photo: John Fisher
Chris and Rob react to the Pittsburgh Pirates pulling rookie sensation Paul Skenes amidst a perfect game. The young pitcher had thrown 99 pitches across seven perfect innings when Pirates Manager Derek Shelton made the call to pull him from the game. The guys are upset, thinking Shelton and the Pirates robbed baseball fans of potential history for the sake of sticking to a pitch count.
Chris Broussard: "Why oh why does it keep happening? I know what the analytics say, I know what the trend is, but the fact is it ain't working! Guys are still getting hurt! I'm not saying eliminate pitch counts altogether, but when someone who is having a legendary start to a career... someone who can bring eyeballs to baseball that usually aren't on baseball, has a shot at history, [you let him go for it]."
Rob Parker: "I just do not understand the thought process behind [taking him out of the game]. This is a young guy in the prime of his life -- give him a chance! To just take it out of his hands, it makes no sense to me... And the other thing I don't like is you're robbing fans of history. I watched David Wells pitch a perfect game against the Minnesota Twins at Yankee stadium and I still remember it! Can you imagine if they'd taken him out because of how many pitches he'd thrown?"