Pirates P Paul Skenes, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, made his MLB debut Saturday before a crowd of nearly 35,000 at PNC ParkGetty Images
Pirates P Paul Skenes, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, made his MLB debut Saturday before a crowd of 34,924 at PNC Park. Skenes, baseball’s “top pitching prospect,” was the “center of attention” during the game and he “hardly disappointed in his debut.” The Pirates won 10-9 over the Cubs “after a two-hour, 20-minute rain delay” (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 5/12).
Fans “lined the left-field bleachers” and there were “rows three or four deep closer to the bullpens.” Throughout the ballpark, fans “reacted to every move the premium pitching prospect made.” There was “so much buzz and excitement” making Saturday feel “extra special for those inside the ballpark.” Skenes struck out seven over four-plus innings, throwing 17 pitches that “registered at least 100 mph and six that went 101 mph or more.” Almost everything Skenes did was “cheered, from his walk to the bullpen to taking the field, even his initial warmup pitch” (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 5/12).
The anticipation in Pittsburgh this weekend was “palpable — and unprecedented in the last decade of Pittsburgh Pirates baseball” (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 5/11). The crowd “felt the gravity of the moment,” giving Skenes a “standing ovation during pregame lineup introductions before he even stepped on the hill” (TRIBLIVE.com, 5/11). Many around baseball expect Skenes to “be a shining light for a franchise whose recent history hasn’t been full of many” (THE ATHLETIC, 5/11).
First appeared on www.sportsbusinessjournal.com