Sports
The Year of the Splinker: How Paul Skenes Is Changing Baseball
Welcome to the Year of the Splinker.
The signature pitch from Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Paul Skenes is expected to continue its ascent into baseball lexicon in 2025. It is part slider, part sinker and completely the next great thing.
Skenes’ pitch generated equal parts curiosity as it did outs. It is clearly fun to say—just watch a broadcast of any Skenes outing—while being far from enjoyable to hit.
Marketing possibilities are endless:
One Splinker Cola, please.
Our lawn stays green all summer with The Splinker.
The rates on a Splinker Loan are guaranteed to drop.
Skenes seemed to be just warming up when he unleashed the combination sinker/slider on MLB hitters starting in May last season.
At optimal execution, the pitch starts toward the lower third of the strike zone and uses a deliberate sideways slider spin before dropping toward the bottom of, or beneath, the zone just as it reaches the plate.
Considered by some as MLB’s hardest pitch to hit in 2024, it has made Skenes an instant star, although the Orange County, California, native has been rocketing toward this moment for some time now.
A standout pitcher in high school, Skenes spent time at the United States Air Force Academy and at LSU before he was the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2023. He made just 12 minor league starts while posting a 2.12 ERA and 14.6 strikeouts per nine innings before the Pirates decided the time was now.
There was mostly success last season, but even in the brief moments when things did not go his way, Skenes had a way of compartmentalizing it like a savvy veteran.
In a June 5 outing against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Skenes’ fifth major league start, L.A. star Shohei Ohtani rocked a full-count 100 mph fastball off the batter’s eye in center field. With a 7-0 lead at the time, Skenes could not resist the chance to test power on power.
The moment turned into a valuable lesson when Skenes faced the Dodgers again on Aug. 10 and he set down Ohtani all three times, including the last two by strikeout. The first strikeout came on a 93.5 mph foul-tip splinker. The second came swinging on an 83.5 mph curveball.
“I think we learned our lesson the last time,” Skenes said. “Just wanted to show him different stuff.”
One batter after Ohtani struck out for the second time, the Dodgers’ Teoscar Hernández hit a home run off the splinker. Even then, Skenes’ confidence was present after the pitch yielded a home run for the first time in his 15 starts to that point.
“I’m not going to stop throwing it,” Skenes said. “He won the Home Run Derby, right? He won it for a reason. You have to tip your cap, and I’m going to keep attacking guys with that pitch.”
When the season was complete, Skenes was 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA and 170 strikeouts in 133 innings. And with the Pirates out of contention down the stretch, he leaned into his changeup a bit more to establish that as an out pitch in his wide-ranging arsenal.
Skenes was the National League starter in the All-Star Game last July and finished third in NL Cy Young Award voting behind Zack Wheeler of the Philadelphia Phillies and winner Chris Sale of the Atlanta Braves. He was named NL Rookie of the Year by a healthy margin over the San Diego Padres’ Jackson Merrill.
Set to face the Miami Marlins on Opening Day, Skenes’ second start was expected to come against the Tampa Bay Rays next week. His first home start could come against the New York Yankees.
April also will include a three-game set against the World Series champion Dodgers in Los Angeles and a potential duel with MVP Ohtani again, but really, any night Skenes takes the mound is a reason to watch. He was as good as anybody for five months last season, and the assumption is that he will only get better.
The last time the Pirates were in the postseason was in 2015 when they lost in the wild-card round for the second consecutive season. They lost in the division series in 2013. Skenes intends to end Pittsburgh’s decade-long wait for a postseason game.
“The bar needs to be set pretty high,” Skenes told MLB.com with the 2025 season drawing near. “Not taking anything from those (2013-15) guys. The fact that that’s a golden era of recent Pirates baseball, that needs to change. We owe it to the city.”
And the splinker could get them there.
Sports
Tundra Esports advances to grand final of DreamLeague Season 28 playoffs
Tundra Esports swept Team Liquid in the upper-bracket final on Saturday to advance to the grand final of the DreamLeague Season 28 playoffs.
The grand final on Sunday will pit Tundra Esports against the winner of the lower-bracket final earlier in the day between Team Liquid and Aurora Gaming in the double-elimination format.
The $1 million Dota 2 event began with 16 teams competing in a round-robin stage split into two groups of eight teams. All series consisted of two games, and the top four teams from each group advanced to Group Stage 2, a single round robin featuring best-of-three matches that ran through Friday.
The playoffs feature best-of-three matches until the grand final, which will be best-of-five.
The championship team will receive $250,000 in prize money and a $40,000 club reward. The runner-up side will get $100,000 and a $30,000 club reward.
Aurora Gaming opened play on Saturday with a 2-1 win over Xtreme Gaming in the lower-bracket semifinal. Xtreme Gaming opened with a win in 40 minutes on red before Aurora Gaming rallied to wins in 47 and 29 minutes, both on red.
Russia’s Egor “Nightfall” Grigorenko logged a 21-4-28 kill-death-assist ratio for Aurora Gaming, while teammate Artem “Lorenof” Melnyk of Ukraine post a 23-8-30 K-D-A over three games. Wang “Ame” Chunyu of China had a 23-9-13 K-D-A ratio for Xtreme Gaming, which finished fourth in the tournament.
Tundra Esports dispatched Team Liquid 2-0 in the upper-bracket final, winning in 46 minutes on red and 39 minutes on green.
Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko of Russia posted a 32-2-19 K-D-A ratio for Tundra Esports and teammate Neta “33” Shapira of Israel had a 24-5-30. Michael “MiCKe” Vu of Sweden posted a 13-10-6 ratio for Team Liquid.
Dream League Season 28 prize pool, with prize money and club reward
1. $250,000, $40,000
2. $125,000, $30,000
3. $80,000, $25,000
4. $60,000, $20,000 — Xtreme Gaming
5. $45,000, $15,000 — Team Falcons
6. $35,000, $15,000 — PARIVISION
7. $30,000, $12,500 — BetBoom Team
8. $25,000, $12,500 — MOUZ
9-10. $20,000, $10,000 — OG, Natus Vincere
11-12. $17,500, $10,000 — Team Yandex, Team Spirit
13-14. $15,000, $10,000 — paiN Gaming, GamerLegion
15-16. $10,000, $10,000 — Yakult Brothers, Execration
–Field Level Media
Sports
LYON, Cloud9 in LCS Lock-In grand final
A backlit keyboard is part of the gear online video game streamer Jordan Woodruff uses in his Gilbert home.
Jordan Woodruff
LYON knocked out Sentinels to earn a meeting on Sunday with Cloud9 in the grand final of the League Championship Series 2026 Lock-In at Los Angeles.
LYON won 3-1 on Saturday in the lower-bracket final, taking the first map in 31 minutes as Kim “Berserker” Min-cheol of South Korea posted a 7-0-1 kill-death-assist ratio. LYON won again in 37 minutes as Niship “Dhokla” Doshi, an American/Indian player, had a 7-3-6 K-D-A and Berserker a 5-0-6.
Sentinels stayed alive with a victory in 34 minutes in the third game as Ham “HamBak” Yoo-jin of South Korea recorded a 5-0-8 K-D-A.
But LYON wrapped up the match by winning the fourth game in 39 minutes on red. Berserker contributed a 6-3-7 K-D-A.
Following the eight-team Swiss stage in the League of Legends event, six teams competed in the double-elimination playoffs, with all matches best-of-five. The overall winner qualifies for the First Stand Tournament, while the second- and third-place teams will head to the Americas Cup.
Both of the latter two events will be contested in Sao Paulo.
Cloud9, which finished atop the Swiss stage standings with a 3-0 record, has moved through the playoffs by beating FlyQuest 3-0 in the upper-bracket semifinal and Sentinels 3-0 in the upper-bracket final.
LYON, who finished fifth in the Swiss stage, eliminated FlyQuest with a 3-0 victory in the lower-bracket quarterfinals, then a 3-1 triumph over Team Liquid in the bracket’s semifinal before Saturday’s victory.
2026 League Championship Series Lock-In at Los Angeles prize pool
1. TBD, qualifies for First Stand Tournament
2. TBD, qualifies for America’s Cup
3. Sentinels, qualifies for America’s Cup
4. Team Liquid
5-6. FlyQuest, Disguised
7. Dignitas
8. Shopify Rebellion
–Field Level Media
Sports
OpTic Texas moves into first place in CDL Major 2 qualifying
YMCA member Austin Manengu works the keyboard as he plays a game of Fortnite during the unveiling of the new gaming lab at the Maplewood Family YMCA in Rochester Thursday, June 20, 2024. YMCA of Greater Rochester in partnership with Metro Sports & Entertainment Group will open two gaming labs for youth and teens this year. OpTic Texas defeated Los Angeles Thieves in a battle of 4-0 teams to move to the top of the standings in qualifying for the Call of Duty League Stage 2 Major on Saturday.
In other second-day action of Week 3 competition, G2 Minnesota edged Riyadh Falcons, Toronto KOI beat Miami Heretics and Carolina Royal Ravens defeated Vancouver Surge.
The 12 Call of Duty League teams are playing a full qualifying round robin to determine seeding for the second major of the season, to be held March 27-29 in Marston Green, England, as part of the DreamHack Birmingham event.
The top six teams in qualifying head straight into the Stage 2 Major playoffs, while the teams in seventh through 10th place will compete in a play-in round.
The Stage 2 Major champion will receive $150,000 and 100 Call of Duty League points, while the runner-up will get $90,000 and 75 CDL points.
After Los Angeles Thieves claimed an opening 250-238 Den Hardpoint victory, OpTic Texas won the next three to claim a 3-1 victory. A 6-2 Exposure Search and Destroy triumph was followed by a 4-2 Den Overload win before the result was clinched with a 250-173 Colossus Hardpoint triumph.
In Saturday’s first match, G2 Minnesota won the final two games to come away with a 3-2 win. Riyadh opened with a 250-229 Scar Hardpoint victory and took a 2-1 lead with a 5-0 Scar Overload win. G2 leveled it at 1 with a 6-1 Raid Search and Destroy win, tied it at 2 with a convincing 250-134 Colossus Hardpoint victory and won the deciding Colossus Search and Destroy game 6-3.
Toronto finished a sweep of Miami with 250-182 Hardpoint, 6-4 Search and Destroy and 4-2 Overload victories, all on the Den map.
Carolina also swept Vancouver for its second victory in as many days after a 1-3 start. After opening with a 250-186 Blackheart Hardpoint win and following with a 6-2 Den Search and Destroy victory, the team closed out the win with an 8-2 Exposure Overload win.
The weekend schedule:
Sunday
–Toronto KOI vs. Paris Gentle Mates
–FaZe Vegas vs. Boston Breach
–Miami Heretics vs. Cloud9 New York
–Vancouver Surge vs. OpTic Texas
Call of Duty League Stage 2 Major qualifiers standings (match record, map differential)
1. OpTic Texas, 5-0, +11
2. Los Angeles Thieves, 4-1, +8
3. Paris Gentle Mates, 3-1, +5
4. G2 Minnesota, 3-2, +1
5. Riyadh Falcons, 3-3, +2
6. Carolina Royal Ravens, 3-3, -1
7. FaZe Vegas, 2-3, 0
8. Toronto KOI, 2-3, -2
9. Miami Heretics, 1-3, -4
10.. Vancouver Surge, 1-3, -6
11. Cloud9 New York, 1-3, -7
12. Boston Breach, 1-4, -7
–Field Level Media
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Tundra Esports advances to grand final of DreamLeague Season 28 playoffs
