Skenes once caught PCA & Winn's combined no-no as preteens in 2014
This browser does not support the video element.
Pete Crow-Armstrong and Masyn Winn on the mound. A combined no-hitter. And Paul Skenes … catching?! No, it's not some alternate reality.
Long before they were Major Leaguers -- Crow-Armstrong as a center fielder for the Cubs, Winn as a shortstop for the Cardinals and Skenes as a pitcher for the Pirates -- the three were teammates on Team USA’s under-12 squad.
Crow-Armstrong was part of the 12U National Team that earned silver at the 2014 COPABE Pan American Championships in Mazatlán, Mexico. During that trip, he and Winn tossed a combined no-no -- with Skenes behind the plate.
“Masyn was by far the best pitcher there,” said Crow-Armstrong. “I think I started that game actually. I definitely remember mercy-ruling whoever we played. But the coolest part about that was that our catcher was Paul Skenes. His big, string-bean-looking [body] -- he was starting to become like the monstrosity that he is now.
“That’s pretty special to look back and reminisce on that.”
Skenes, who is set to reunite with Crow-Armstrong as teammates on Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, remembers it, too.
"He was a pitcher at that time," Skenes said of Crow-Armstrong. "I don't even know if he hit in the tournament. I didn't pitch in the tournament. [Things have] kind of flip-flopped as time has gone on."
For fans who have seen Skenes dominate as a pitcher for years, first at LSU and then with Pittsburgh, it may seem hard to believe there was a time when he wasn’t the top hurler on his team. But that’s because he wasn’t a pitcher at all until high school. In fact, he was recruited to college more for his catching.
Opposing hitters everywhere are probably wishing Skenes would have stayed behind the dish.