20260808, The Pittsburgh Pirates face the New York Mets at PNC Park, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Photos by Harrison Barden)
DETROIT — In what could be the last appearance of his MLB career, Pirates right-hander Kirby Yates will make his first-career start.
Yates, 39, will start for the Pirates against the Tigers at Comerica Park on Saturday afternoon as the first to take the mound in a bullpen game.
“I’m excited,” said Yates. “To be honest with you, (manager Don Kelly) told me, and I got pretty nervous pretty quickly. It’s good. Haven’t had these feelings in a long time.”
Yates has made 517 appearances in his career, all of which have come out of the bullpen. He will be the first Pirate in the Modern Era (since 1901) to make his first MLB start after at least that many appearances. The last major-leaguer to total that many appearances before his first start was Bryan Shaw with the Guardians on July 26, 2022.
“I kind of put it in (Kelly’s) head a few days ago. We’d be going back and forth,” Yates explained. “He told me today. I laughed and said I would love to. It’s cool. It’s fun.”
At 39, Yates will be younger than his mound opponent on Saturday. Three-time Cy Young winner and MVP Justin Verlander will make the final start of his illustrious career.
“It’s a guy I respect a lot and have admired for many, many years. It’s his day. But hopefully I can out-pitch him for an inning or two,” said Yates. “We’ll see how it goes. Should be a lot of fun on both sides.”
Yates has not revealed publicly what he future plans are. The 12-year veteran has had a fine career that has included two All-Star appearances, 101 saves and stops with eight teams.
There’s a chance that Yates will join Verlander in retirement at season’s end. If that’s the case, he’ll get to add one more distinction to his resume before calling it a career.
“I’m not oblivious to what’s ahead of me. It very well could be the last time. I’ll take it all in. I’m sure there’ll be some emotions if my mind gets to that point,” Yates explained. “I’ve been trying to open for a while. Teams haven’t allowed me to do it. I finally got to a place where maybe it made a little more sense here. Tomorrow is a day to do it. It’s good.”
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