You ended up working out a deal with Adam Frazier for No. 26?
For giving up 26, he bought me a new bag and some new Srixon clubs. I’m excited to use them. I’m not a big golfer, but I’m excited because I’ve been playing with my dad’s TaylorMade’s from, like, 1986. You’ve got to hit those things perfect or else it’s going to blow up your hands. I heard these have a lot of forgiveness, which is good for me because I can get to the green in about two shots but I’m four-putting everything.
How does the negotiation go?
It’s not the first time. Rowdy (Tellez), with No. 44, that number meant a lot to him. It had a lot to do with his mother, so I’m not going to stand in the way of that. I’m also a big service-time guy. If anybody has more service time than me and have a special attachment to a number, then I would obviously give it up for them. That’s what it was with Rowdy. He got me some Louis Vuitton shoes. It was a good trade for me. Every time I put them on, I think about him so that’s cool. With Frazier, this guy’s got close to nine years and he played here before. He’s been 26 (or 12) everywhere he’s played, so that was a no-brainer for me. As much as I liked 26, I was willing to give it up for him. I didn’t have too much of an attachment to it, so it was easy for me to ride with a different number.
How do you feel about being a single-digit pitcher, now wearing No. 6?
It’s a little weird. In Low-A for the Phillies I was No. 9. This is my second time being a single digit but first time being a single digit in the big leagues, which is kind of weird. I feel like I got a pretty good body type to rock a single-digit number. I’m kind of slim, so that helps.”
Is there any number to which you have an attachment?
There is a number: It’s 32. Henry Davis wears it. But I’m not that type of guy that I’m going to demand that number or anything like that. We talked about it a few times. He’s liked that number, been that number and he was telling me the Pirates ended up giving it to him when he got drafted so he’s been riding with it ever since. I’d really like 32 just because of Sandy Koufax, who I liked growing up. One of the game’s best left-handers, and my dad (Darwin) was a big baseball guy. He was never really good at it, so he lived his dreams through me. I can’t tell you how many times I watched tapes of Sandy throwing or the endless book reports I did in school on him. At my parents’ house, I still have the pictures of him with all of his no-hitters hanging up on the wall right above the bed so I always looked up to him.
Does your milestone memorabilia go to their house or yours?
I think everything, especially from my debut — first punchie, first out, the lineup card — my agent, Garrett Parcell with Paragon, got it all framed. It feels like every time I go home, it’s like I died. They’ve got a whole shrine of all my stuff. They love it. I’m sure it’ll eventually come back to me, but I let them have all that stuff. I have one of every single jersey from the Pirates and Phillies. My wife is a big collector of signed memorabilia, like baseballs, bobbleheads. We got some stuff from (Zack) Wheeler. We got some stuff from (Aaron) Nola, from Jared (Jones). I’ve got a Paul (Skenes) bobblehead in my locker that I’m going to make him sign for my wife (Kylee), then we’re going to put that up there, too. He already said he would, so he’s being a good sport about it.
Kevin Gorman is a TribLive reporter covering the Pirates. A Baldwin native and Penn State graduate, he joined the Trib in 1999 and has covered high school sports, Pitt football and basketball and was a sports columnist for 10 years. He can be reached at kgorman@triblive.com.
