Elite prospect Skenes set for Pirates debut
Paul skenes thought he was ready for the majors months ago.
Turns out, life doesn’t work like that. Or at least the pirates didn’t want it to work like that for perhaps the best pitching prospect in a generation.
“You can’t just show up in spring training and throw seven innings, even if I feel like I can,” skenes said.
Instead, the pirates opted to bring the top overall pick in last year’s draft along slowly in hopes of protecting the 21-year-old’s right arm that regularly delivers fastballs that reach triple digits. The buildup at Triple A Indianapolis was gradual and deliberate. skenes understood the assignment. He embraced
nd it as best he could across seven almost uniformly dominant starts in which he posted a 0.99 ERA, doing his best to push the wondering about when “the call” would come out of his mind. It worked. Maybe too well. skenes was actually napping Wednesday when manager Miguel Perez tried to break the news skenes was going to pittsburgh. perez, who’s notoriously creative in finding ways to let his players know they’re moving up, opted to take a more direct approach with skenes. fitting for a franchise eager for the future to arrive as fast as possible.
“He says, ‘Are you really going to make me look for another pitcher on saturday?’ ” skenes said. “I’m like, ‘I don’t know, am I?’ He says, ‘Yeah, you are. You’re going to the show.’ ”
The conversation lasted two minutes. less than 48 sometimes frantic hours later, skenes walked into a clubhouse at pNc park on friday that had a stall featuring his name and the number “30.” skenes will make his first major league start saturday against the cubs in perhaps the most anticipated pitching debut since former Washington star stephen strasburg struck out 14 pirates in 2009.
skenes, who turned 7 that night, has no recollection of it. Then again, life has come at him so fast of late that keeping track can be difficult.
Former Padre burroughs dies at 43
sean burroughs, a third baseman who played parts of seven seasons in the major leagues and won a gold medal during the 2000 Olympics, died Thursday. He was 43.
According to EspN, he collapsed after dropping his son off at little league practice. The long Beach (calif.) little league announced Burroughs’s death in an Instagram post friday. Burroughs won backto-back little league World series with long Beach in 1992 and 1993 before returning to coach.
The son of 1974 American league Mvp Jeff burroughs was drafted No. 9 overall by the padres in 1998. He made his major league debut in 2002, recorded the first walkoff hit at petco park in 2004, and was traded to the Rays in 2005. By 2007 he was out of baseball and battling addiction, but he made a comeback with the Diamondbacks in 2011 and briefly played with the Twins in 2012.
In 528 MlB games he hit .278 with 12 home runs and 143 RBIs.
Yankees slip past rays
Clarke schmidt allowed five hits in 6„ innings, Anthony rizzo homered and drove in two runs, and the Yankees beat the Rays, 2-0, in st. petersburg, fla. schmidt (4-1) struck out six and walked two as he extended his season-opening run of allowing three or fewer runs to eight starts.
Yankees closer Clay Holmes had a stressful ninth inning. He walked two batters with one out and struck out Isaac Paredes looking before pinch hitter Austin shenton singled to load the bases. Holmes then struck out Jonny DeLuca to secure his 12th save in 13 chances and complete a six-hitter.
Rizzo had a fourth-inning RBI single and connected on a first-pitch homer against shawn Armstrong leading off the ninth to help the Yankees win for the sixth time in seven games.
Rays starter taj bradley (0-1) gave up one run, four hits and struck out seven over six innings in his season debut. The righthander had been on the 15day injured list with a right pectoral strain.