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20260808, The Pittsburgh Pirates face the New York Mets at PNC Park, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Photos by Harrison Barden)\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t20260808, The Pittsburgh Pirates face the New York Mets at PNC Park, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Photos by Harrison Barden)\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
DETROIT \u2014 In what could be the last appearance of his MLB career, Pirates right-hander Kirby Yates will make his first-career start.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m excited,\u201d said Yates. \u201cTo be honest with you, (manager Don Kelly) told me, and I got pretty nervous pretty quickly. It\u2019s good. Haven\u2019t had these feelings in a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI kind of put it in (Kelly\u2019s) head a few days ago. We\u2019d be going back and forth,\u201d Yates explained. \u201cHe told me today. I laughed and said I would love to. It\u2019s cool. It\u2019s fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
At 39, Yates will be younger than his mound opponent on Saturday. Three-time Cy Young winner and MVP Justin Verlander<\/a> will make the final start of his illustrious career.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a guy I respect a lot and have admired for many, many years. It\u2019s his day. But hopefully I can out-pitch him for an inning or two,\u201d said Yates. \u201cWe\u2019ll see how it goes. Should be a lot of fun on both sides.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a chance that Yates will join Verlander in retirement at season\u2019s end. If that\u2019s the case, he\u2019ll get to add one more distinction to his resume before calling it a career.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not oblivious to what\u2019s ahead of me. It very well could be the last time. I\u2019ll take it all in. I\u2019m sure there\u2019ll be some emotions if my mind gets to that point,\u201d Yates explained. \u201cI\u2019ve been trying to open for a while. Teams haven\u2019t 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\u2019s good.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMentioned in this article:Kirby Yates<\/a> Pittsburgh Pirates<\/a><\/p>\n