"He's built for the big game" - Pirates' All-Star catcher Yasmani Grandal praises rookie teammate Paul Skenes after mesmerizing MLB debut

The Pittsburgh Pirates' prized prospect, Paul Skenes, made his major league debut on Saturday against the Chicago Cubs. He stayed on the mound for four innings and struck out seven Cubs hitters while giving up three runs.

Skenes' strike-out lists contained players such as Mike Tauchman, Ian Happ, Seiya Suzuki (twice), and Yan Gomes. The Pirates won the game with a close 10-9 score. Surprisingly, this remains their only win since Tuesday. They lost the series to the Cubs after losing Sunday’s game to a close 4-5 score.

Yasmani Grandal, the catcher for the Pirates, was one of the few individuals who experienced Paul Skenes’ talent on his big day against the Cubs.

“This guy [Paul Skenes], he's built for the big time, for the big game. I mean, he wants to be in that spot,” Grandal said on the “High Heat” show on MLB Network.

“He has a number one overall tag on him. He knows it, he owns it… He knows what he wants to do. (He is) Very confident in his skills, and the most impressive part about him is when he's on the mound.”

Skenes was the first player to debut as the no. 1 overall draft pick since Stephen Strasburg did in 2010 for the Washington Nationals. His 100 mph fastball made the former MVP Joey Votto revisit his days with Strasburg.

Yasmani Grandal shared what makes Paul Skenes special

In the same interview, Yasmani Grandal shared that the most impressive quality of Paul Skenes is not his over 100 mph fastball, but the understanding of batters on the plate. Unlike other pitchers, he wanted to dominate them on the mound.

“It's not the fact that he's throwing 102. It's his ability to understand where he has to put this ball in the strike zone in order to get the guy out,” Grandal shared.

Skenes has several pitches in his arsenal, including a Splitter, curveball, slider, and change-ups, in addition to a newly developed pitch, splinker, which is a combination of spitter and sinker. Not to mention his best weapon is the four-seamer that can touch up to 102 mph.

The Pirates are preparing to face another division rival, the Milwaukee Brewers starting Monday. They currently have an 18-23 record, trailing the Brewers (24-16) and the Cubs (24-17) for the NL Central pennant race.