Pirates' top pitching prospect to make MLB debut
The Pittsburgh Pirates have promoted top pitching prospect Paul Skenes for his major-league debut on Saturday.
The Pirates sent out a hype video of Skenes featuring the date “5.11.24.”
Skenes was the first overall pick in the 2023 amateur draft out of LSU. The 21-year-old right-hander is 0-0 with a 0.99 ERA in seven triple-A starts, with 45 strikeouts in 271/3 innings.
He is considered among baseball's top prospects and comes with unusual star power for a baseball rookie, in part because of his relationship with LSU gymnast and social media influencer Olivia Dunne.
The Pirates host the Cubs on Saturday.
Ownership of the NHL's team in Utah has given fans 20 choices to vote on for the franchise's new name, according to a survey sent out Wednesday by Smith Entertainment Group.
Owner Ryan Smith said the team will have a name starting with Utah. The inaugural season will feature jerseys with the name of the state on them, with a name, logo and colours to debut for 2025-26.
The options are Frost, Ice, Powder, Mountaineers, Freeze, Mammoth, Black Diamonds, Blast, Caribou, Blizzard, Swarm, Hive, Outlaws, Yeti, Squall, Fury, Glaciers, Canyons, Venom and HC, which stands for Hockey Club.
SEG bought the Arizona Coyotes from former owner Alex Meruelo for US$1.2 billion and relocated the team to Salt Lake City. Utah will start play in the Jazz's downtown arena, Delta Center.
The franchise has the sixth pick in this year's NHL Entry Draft.
Olympic medallist and twotime world champion Shoma Uno of Japan is retiring from figure skating.
The 26-year-old won silver and bronze medals at the 2018 and 2022 Olympics, respectively.
He announced his decision Thursday on social media, saying he'd been skating since he was five.