BRADENTON, Fla. — Similar to many other teenagers who love the game of baseball, Zander Mueth was a bit starstruck the first time he saw Paul Skenes in person.
It was the summer of 2023. Mueth, a high school standout from Illinois, found himself within arms reach of Skenes, who had just capped off a dominant run at LSU, which included player of the year recognition and a national championship.
Mueth’s encounter, however, was a bit different than what most other Skenes fans typically experience. Rather than bumping into him after a game or randomly in public, the two were working out together after being selected by the Pirates in the same draft.
“Paul was down in Bradenton for like a month after the draft, and I got to talk to him a lot,” Mueth recalled. “We were always in the weight room together. Between sets, we’d talk. I remember before he left last year, we sat and talked for like 20 minutes. It was nice picking his brain. That’s the rookie of the year. That’s Paul Skenes. It’s nice to see what he does, seeing what works.”
At that time, Skenes was just a college phenom. He had yet to reach the major leagues, but Mueth said it was easy to see the undeniable potential in his workout partner. But that wasn’t the only thing the young right-hander took away from his brief time with the 2024 rookie of the year.
While a few years younger and not as physically mature, Mueth recognized more than a few similarities between his and Skenes’ physical makeup. A 19-year-old right-handed arm with a strong fastball paired with a 6-foot-6, 205-pound frame, Mueth now had the perfect blueprint moving forward.
“From pitching to staying healthy, there is a lot to learn from him,” Mueth said. “We’re both adding a sinker this year. Our fastballs are pretty similar, so I’m just working to see how he attacks hitters throughout the season. It was nice when he was down here, just watch how he operates.”
Unlike Skenes, Mueth will need more than just a few minor league outings before he can pitch at the game’s highest level. Last season, his first as a pro, Mueth started off in rookie ball, going 6-1 with a 1.58 ERA over 13 outings — 12 starts — in the Florida Complex League.
Mueth’s success earned him a promotion to Low-A before the year ended. His results were a mixed bag, going 1-3 with a 3.97 ERA over seven starts, striking out 23 but walking 24. But the biggest takeaway from his first season out of high school was his ability to handle a professional workload, logging 74 total innings, a sizable total for a pitcher his age.
“Obviously, my goal is to get to the big leagues and pitch 200 innings a year,” Mueth said. “It’s a good start to get over 70 innings in my first year of pro ball. That’s the most I’ve thrown in my life.”
Mueth enters his second season in pro ball rated as the Pirates No. 10 prospect, per MLB Pipeline. He has finally become accustomed to life in the minor leagues, making a point to say how much he has enjoyed trading algebra for more time on the diamond.
His focus this spring has centered around reshaping a four-seam fastball that tops out at 97 mph and adding more sweep to a slider that sits in the mid 80s. Those two pitches, along with a changeup that boasts similar velocity to the slider, all worked reliably for him last year. Additionally, as he mentioned, Mueth is also working on a sinker, something the Pirates hope will make him a more complete pitcher moving forward.
“He has a unique look,” fielding coordinator Shawn Bowman said of Mueth before the spring breakout game last weekend. “From the right side, he has a different profile and different arm slot. It gives at-bats that are really hard to navigate for right-handed hitters.
“Once he can isolate what he wants to do against lefties, man, the world is his oyster.”
First Published: March 21, 2025, 8:00 a.m.
Updated: March 21, 2025, 4:10 p.m.
