The Pirates threw top prospect Starling Marte right into the fire for his major league debut tonight against the Astros by placing him in the leadoff spot. However, the 23-year-old outfielder rose to the occasion by depositing the first pitch he saw from left-hander Dallas Keuchel over the left field fence. MLB.com won’t let me embed the video, but you can watch it right here.
Marte is the 28th player in major league history to homer on the first pitch of his career and the first Pirate to do it since Don Leppert on June 18, 1961. He’s the first player to lead off his first major league game with a homer since Kaz Matsui did it with the Mets on April 6, 2004.
By the way, Marte just flew out in his second at-bat, so he clearly should have gone out on a high note.
