Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is a big fan of Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes. The Pirates visited the Steelers on Thursday, and the 17-year NFL head coach congratulated Skenes for his record-breaking rookie season thus far. Tomlin also shared why he respects the 22-year-old pitcher, per the Pirates' X, formerly Twitter account.
“Much respect. Congrats on your success, man,” Tomlin said. “Keep living it. How are you enjoying it thus far, Pittsburgh? All the best to you, man. [I'm a] big fan, much respect. I love your professional approach that I hear about on days that you work. How you go to the stadium, love it. Respect. My man, have a good one.”
Another cool moment during the visit was when Skenes swapped jerseys with Steelers pass-rusher T.J. Watt. The two swapped gifts as Watt offered Skenes a game-word No. 90 jersey and a signed Steelers back-and-gold jersey, per Sports Illustrated's Kristen Wong.
“Looks like it’ll fit,” Watt told Skenes, holding up one jersey.
“Oh yeah, I’ll wear that,” Skenes replied.
“I gotta get some Pirates’ s*** at some point,” Watt said.
Skenes, an NL Rookie of the Year candidate, is 10-2 with a 2.10 ERA for the Pirates this season. Mike Tomlin and the Steelers won their season opener 18-10 against the Atlanta Falcons. They will face the Denver Broncos on Sunday.
Paul Skenes breaks Pirates' franchise record
Despite the Pirates' 70-76 record, falling to last place in the NL Central division, Paul Skenes is having an elite rookie season. In the Pirates' 3-2 win against the Miami Marlins on Monday, Skenes finished with nine strikeouts. He has 151 strikeouts this season, setting a franchise record for most strikeouts in a single season.
“I think that just goes to the quality of his stuff,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “This kid's got elite stuff, and he's going to strike out a lot of people throughout his career.”
Related NewsArticle continues below
The Pirates' No. 1 overall pick out of LSU baseball has been their silver lining from a disastrous regular season. He broke a franchise record that stood for almost 90 years, surpassing Cy Banton's 150 strikeouts set in 1935.
Skenes received a standing ovation at the end of the sixth inning of Monday's win.
“That's pretty dang cool every time,” Skenes said. “So, yeah, just keep showing up for the games. And hopefully, I mean, the goal is to keep giving them moments like that.”
The Pirates begin their three-game series against the Kansas City Royals on Friday.
