Batters Love Me They Get

They keep showing up. It's actually kind of sweet.

Paul Skenes does not have a complicated relationship with opposing batters. They arrive at the plate. They have a plan. The plan has been prepared by coaches who study footage and identify tendencies and construct approaches designed to give the hitter the best possible chance of making contact with a pitch that is coming in at a velocity that makes the entire concept of a plan feel somewhat theoretical. Skenes knows about the plan. Skenes is not concerned about the plan. The batter steps in, adjusts their grip, tries to look calm, and then something happens very quickly and they are walking back to the dugout thinking about the plan and how the plan did not account for this specific version of Skenes on this specific evening. And Skenes is already looking in for the sign, because there is another batter coming, and that batter also loves him, and he has a lot of affection to give tonight.

The Skenes Batters Love Me tee is for Pirates fans who are watching something genuinely special happen in Pittsburgh, which is a sentence that required no qualifications and no asterisks, which is itself notable. District DM130 Perfect Tri® Tee — featherlight, broken-in soft, and available in Black Frost, Soft Yellow, and White. Wear it to PNC Park where you will watch batters love Paul Skenes in real time. Wear it when someone asks you about the Pirates and you want to answer the question accurately in three words. Wear it because Pittsburgh has a generational arm, and generational arms deserve shirts that understand the assignment, and the assignment is: the batters are going to keep showing up, and they are going to keep loving him, and he is going to keep being completely fine with it.

• 4.5 oz. — light enough for a fan whose team finally has a reason to stand up in the third inning on a Tuesday in June
• 50% polyester / 25% combed ring-spun cotton / 25% rayon — tri-blend construction as precise and well-calibrated as the two-seam location that just ate a batter alive in the gap between the hands
• Rib-knit neck that holds its shape, the same way Skenes holds his composure while a batter stands in having done extensive homework that is about to become irrelevant
• Tear-away label — nothing irritating at the collar, which puts it in rare company with opposing batters' game plans
• Shoulder-to-shoulder taping for a structured fit appropriate for someone watching the Pirates actually be good at baseball
• Available in Black Frost, Soft Yellow, and White — Pittsburgh black and gold for a Pittsburgh moment that people are going to talk about for a long time

Size Chart