Morning Rundown: Pirates in on Cuban pitcher, more recognition for Paul Skenes
Pirates remain in the mix for Cuban pitcher, more Paul Skenes talk
According to Enrique Rojas of ESPN on Twitter Thursday, the Pirates are one of three teams still talking to Cuban pitcher Yariel Rodriguez as a potential starter. The Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox are the other two teams eyeing the 26-year-old as a starter.
Other teams are also interested in signing the righty but as a reliever. According to the tweet, the New York Yankees, San Diego Padres, and Cincinnati Reds are among the teams looking to add Rodriguez as a reliever.
Looking at his Baseball Reference page, Rodriguez last pitched for Chunichi during the 2022 season in the Japan Central League. He posted a 6-2 record with a 1.15 ERA and 60 strikeouts in 54.2 innings pitched.
Paul Skenes was recognized in two articles on MLB.com over the past couple of days as the hype builds for the former first-overall pick.
The first was an article looking at seven players the site is most excited to see in 2024, with Andrew Simon selecting Skenes for his pick.
The other was on the Pipeline side of things, as they gave 30 prospect debuts - one for each team - they are excited to see in 2024, with Skenes taking the honors again.
It’s not surprising that Skenes is getting so much attention, especially on Pipeline, where they were especially high on him.
The feature for today will be a little late, as I was feeling a little under the weather Thursday, so I hit the bed a little early.
Today, I will talk about JP Massey a bit, so be on the lookout for that later.
Every Monday during the offseason, we will be doing a mailbag article. Please send in your questions to have them answered! Either comment below with ‘mailbag’ entered in the message or email us at bucsondeckqa@gmail.com.
I look forward to answering what you guys have!
Well BC just had a quote to remember.
"We need to optimize the entirety of Paul Skenes' time with the Pirates and not like a specific date in 2024."
With a quote like that, pretty sure they want to stay safe on S2. Definitely don't want to give him enough time to be considered for ROY. Looks like Skenes has already priced himself out of an extention without throwing a pitch in the majors.
I have to be the last fan in Pittsburgh to figure out who Paul Skenes is dating, correct? Whew.