"The city will come alive" – Pirates coach raves about vibes in Pittsburgh as Paul Skenes is set to MLB debut Saturday
On Saturday, Paul Skenes will make his highly-anticipated Pittsburgh Pirates debut against the Chicago Cubs. The top pick in the 2023 MLB Draft has been doing nothing but turning heads this season in the minors.
In seven games at the Triple-A level this year, he has let up just three earned runs over 27.1 innings of work. While many were bummed he did not make the big league roster out of camp, now they get their chance to see the prospect shine.
in getting ready for Skenes' debut, Pirates' strategy coach, Radley Haddad joined Foul Territory TV. He discussed just how ready the city is for a start like him to step on the mound.
"Tomorrow is going to be a big day, like you guys were talking about earlier. The city of Pitsburgh will come alive, and I'm sure they'll come out and support him and it'll be a great atmosphere," - said Haddad.
This is the team's most-anticipated pitching prospect since they had Gerrit Cole in their rotation. All eyes are going to be on the flamethrower tomorrow when he steps on an MLB mound for the first time in a regular season game.
Why did the Pirates decide to bring up Paul Skenes now?
There were fans of other teams demanding that the Pirates put Paul Skenes on the big league roster out of camp. They believed he already had what it took to be a big-league pitcher, and the organization needed to capitalize on that.
However, the front office wanted to make sure Skenes was ready. They did not want to rush out their top guy if he still had work to be done.
"There were a lot of boxes to check as far as getting acustomed to the pro workload, the rotation, making sure he has that routine under his belt" - said Haddad.
Now, the club feels confident that Skenes is ready. Although, he will likely be on a pitch limit. He has only exceeded 60 pitches four times this season in the minors. It would not be surprising to see Pittsburgh be cautious with Skenes out of the gate against the Cubs.
For those unfamiliar with Skenes' game, expect light-out stuff. He is billed at 6'6", 235 lbs, and regularly tops 100 mph and killer offspeed pitches. This is somebody's debut you will not want to miss.