"I woke up to three missed calls" Pirates first-overall pick Paul Skenes talks ahead of MLB debut
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Paul Skenes is being introduced by the Pittsburgh Pirates this afternoon ahead of his much-awaited MLB debut.
Skenes will be on the mound for tomorrow night's game against the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park.
Tune into Skenes' introductory press conference at 1:15 p.m. by watching the live player above!
Getting the call to the big league
The 21-year-old pitcher was called up from AAA Indianapolis earlier this week and comes to Pittsburgh after a dominant showing in the minors.
In seven starts for Indianapolis, he tallied a 0.99 ERA in just over 27 innings. He struck out 45 batters, walked eight batters and allowed 17 hits over 422 pitches for Indianapolis.
Skenes was drafted No. 1 overall by the Pirates in last July's draft. He signed a contract with Pittsburgh that included a record $9.2 million signing bonus. Skenes posted a 13-2 record en route to winning the 2023 College World Series in his final season at LSU.
MLB.com ranks Skenes as the No. 3 overall prospect.
Skenes ended last season in Double-A with the Altoona Curve. His spring training debut with the Pirates came in February when he threw 10 pitches against the Baltimore Orioles.
Skenes talks about getting the call to the big leagues
On Friday afternoon, Skenes sat down for a conversation with reporters at PNC Park before he makes his big league debut on Saturday against the Cubs.
Even with all the excitement in Pittsburgh, the call was missed...literally.
"We had an 11 a.m. game and I had bullpen in the morning," Skenes recalled. "So, I had to wake up at 7 a.m. I headed over to the stadium early, got that [stuff] done, and played the game. I went home took a nap, and woke up to three missed calls from our manager, Miggy."
No worries, though, it was resolved.
"I called him back and got the call," Skenes said.
The Indianapolis manager had a little fun letting Skenes know he was going to bigs.
"Miggy said, 'Are you really going to make me look for another pitcher on Saturday?' I said, 'I don't know, am I?' He said, 'Yeah, you are. You're going to the show.'"
Pirates fans ready to watch Paul Skenes
It's hard to gauge which is higher at this point: the excitement of fans or the velocity of a Skenes' fastball.
"It's going to be electric. It's going to be nice to see the ballpark packed in," Ben Gardner of Lawrenceville said on Friday.
Skenes' jersey is already in storefronts in Pittsburgh. For shoppers in the Strip District, you'll find the t-shirts there soon.
"People came in yesterday, and when I opened up at 8:30 this morning, it was the first thing people in the door were asking for," Yinzers in the Burgh general manager Tim Piett said.
Tickets have become a must-have commodity. For some out-of-town Pirates fans, buying tickets for this weekend's series ahead of time is paying off.
"We even talked about selling them for tomorrow night to pay for the trip, but we're not going to do that. This is part of Major League history," Cameron Lane said.
Lane and his wife are from Arkansas and planned the trip months ago.
Restaurants that live on baseball fans are preparing for big crowds and working to get extra staffing to handle it.
"We're going to get a lot of local fans coming to watch the game, plus a lot of out of town," Redbeard's Bar Grill owner Len Semplice said.
How to get tickets for Paul Skenes' MLB debut
If you want to get in the building for Skenes' MLB debut on Saturday, there are plenty of options to get tickets.
Through the team, tickets start at $48.
There are also third-party options to get tickets. Gametime has tickets for $28, StubHub has tickets for $30, SeatGeek has tickets for $33 and Ticketmaster has tickets for $37.
