Spring Training Gameday 6: Paul Skenes makes Spring Training debut
Pirates played the Orioles for second time this season, with Skenes to make his 2024 debut.
Paul Skenes, the first overall pick in the 2023 draft, is expected to make his 2024 Spring Training debut on Thursday against the Baltimore Orioles.
To make things interesting, it sounds like the first overall pick from the 2022 draft, Jackson Holliday will also be playing in the game. He’s looking to catch on as the Orioles’ starting second baseman.
For Skenes, he pitched 6.2 innings last year after getting drafted, and while he won’t make the team out of camp, this will be a good test for him against what should be some actually major league hitters.
The Pirates look to get back on the winning side of things, as they have lost four of the first five games they have played this Spring.
First pitch is expected to be around 1:05 pm ET.
Pirates Lineup
SS - Oneil Cruz
CF - Jack Suwinski
3B - Ke’Bryan Hayes
1B - Rowdy Tellez
C - Henry Davis
RF - Edward Olivares
DH - Liover Peguero
LF - Canaan Smith-Njigba
2B - Nick Gonzales
Probable Pitchers
Paul Skenes
Bailey Falter
Thomas Harrington
Colin Selby
Anthony Solometo
Carmen Mlodzinski
Ryan Borucki
Yesterday’s Feature
While Jack Suwinski has had some issues with swings and misses, as well as strikeouts, but an elite chase and walk rate has helped cover for some of those issues. I take a look at how.
MLB not broadcasting this game in any form is ridiculous. Stadiums have cameras rolling all of the time during games. They need that in case something comes up for the league to deal with during the game. There's no reason they can't just post a webcast on the team websites. It would cost nothing to do it. This game also includes Henry Davis and Adley Rutschman, making it four of the last five first overall picks in the same game.
My guess is they aren't doing it because they don't want to upstage their money grab in two weeks, where Skenes vs Holliday is their big story for the breakout series. If people knew these things happen all of the time in Spring Training for free, they wouldn't pay money for the hype.
Selby making flight reservations for Indianapolis.