Jed, the better the eggplant, the thinner the skin.
I might be mistaken, but I always took the blemishes on eggplant to be a kind of a bruise - created from wind, sand, the fruit bumping together.
Kind of crazy to look at eggplant growing in January.
This variety, Ping Tung, has a fairly thin skin and IMHO is better tasting than usual fatter eggplants I've grown in the past.
I think you're correct about the wind causing the 'scabs'. I usually have them staked when they get this size. I noticed today when the wind picked up the fruits were banging around hitting each other and the plant stems.