Here comes a long-awaited wave of young pitching … maybe
BRADENTON, Fla. — “The guy you want,” Paul Skenes was telling me, “is right over there.”
Imagine that. Meaning that the guy I wanted wouldn’t have been the No. 1 overall pick in the most recent MLB Draft, the most heralded pitcher in a decade and, to boot, the man-child donning a big-league uniform in anger for the first time today.
But no, he was right. I’d been seeking out Jared Jones.
And want to hear something nuts?
I could’ve been seeking out any number of young pitchers in this particular fold for the purpose of putting together this column.
Like Quinn Priester, for instance:
Kid claims that’s a slider, even if it comes with clear properties of a cutter.
Whichever the case, he’d start off his Grapefruit League slate and the Pirates’ 6-4 loss to the Tigers on this Wednesday afternoon at LECOM Park with a six-up, six-down, 19-pitch smorgasbord encompassing every slice of his expansive arsenal:
That’s neat. And rare, especially so soon into the spring, which I’d bring up afterward:
Kid claims that’s a slider, even if it comes with clear properties of a cutter.
Whichever the case, he’d start off his Grapefruit League slate and the Pirates’ 6-4 loss to the Tigers on this Wednesday afternoon at LECOM Park with a six-up, six-down, 19-pitch smorgasbord encompassing every slice of his expansive arsenal:
“The way I see myself being the best in the big leagues, for us, is being able to use everything every day,” he’d reply through his omnipresent smile. “I was joking around in the dugout that the curveball wasn’t there but, if I’d gone out for a third inning, it would’ve been.”
