Pittsburgh Pirates rookie pitcher Paul Skins (21) was promoted to minor league double-A and gathered a crowd.
MLB.com, the official major league media, said on the 27th (Korean time), “John Wilson worked as a team assistant for Altona (a minor league double-A team affiliated with Pittsburgh) for about 10 years and 6 months. On this day, he saw more spectators than ever before,” he said, announcing the news of Skins’ double-A debut. 스포츠토토
MLB.com said, “Strasburg’s Double-A debut in 2010, Andy Pettitte’s rehabilitation in Game 1 of the Eastern League Championship Series a few months later, and Pittsburgh’s 2013 exhibition game with Altona. All three games are comparable to Skins’ debut, but the match on this day was the highest ever with 10,164 spectators.”
Skins is a right-handed pitcher with the first overall pick in this year’s rookie draft. He lightly throws a fastball that exceeds 100 miles per hour (160.9 km) and is expected to be an all-time top pitching prospect. His rookie contract paid 9.2 million dollars (approximately 12.2 billion won), breaking his all-time first record.
Skins, who recorded an average ERA of 0.00 in 1 game (1 inning) in the Rookie League and 0.00 ERA in 2 games (3 innings) in Single A, immediately promoted to Double A. It is a situation where Pittsburgh can do it just by looking at the speed of promotion to the minor leagues, how high expectations are placed on the Skins.
However, Skins did not pitch as expected in a game with the largest number of spectators in the stadium’s history. He was initially scheduled to pitch 2 innings, but went down the mound with 3 hits, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts and 4 runs in ⅔ innings. His pitch count was 33.
Still, MLB.com said, “Skins struck out his first with a 100-mile four-seam. The velocity was formed at 97-100 miles (156.1-160.9 km), 99 miles (159.3 km) was thrown 12 times, and two times exceeded 100 miles,” he said, emphasizing Skins’ strong pitch.
Regarding the record for the stadium’s highest attendance, Skins said, “I didn’t know today was the stadium’s highest attendance. That’s cool. Obviously, having a lot of spectators is not the reason I play baseball. We play baseball to win games. But it’s great to have an audience watching us.”
Skins, who had a disappointing Double A debut, said, “A bad game is just a bad game. It’s just baseball. Obviously I want to win the field and throw the best ball I can. Every time I go to a game, I do my best to prepare. But baseball is like that. It’s not as bad as it looks, and it’s not as good as it looks either. Still, baseball is beautiful,” he said, expressing his still confidence.
MLB.com reports, “Skins has been a little over a month into his pro career, but he has already made it through half of the Pittsburgh minor league system. If he puts in a few good games at Altona, he might be able to pitch in one game at Triple-A Indianapolis. Maybe even the 2024 Opening Day roster?”