If there’s one thing Matt Gorski has proven he can do throughout his professional baseball career, it’s hit home runs.
The opportunity to do so on a big-league stage had become elusive for Gorski, a former top 20 prospect for the Pittsburgh Pirates who turned 27 last December.
But Thursday night in Anaheim, Gorski, called up from Triple-A Indianapolis, got to make his coveted MLB debut.
With 90 homers under his belt in 464 career minor-league contests, Gorski waited just seven pitches to crush his first big-league homer, 434 feet to center field off Los Angeles Angels starter Tyler Anderson.
MATT GORSKI HITS A HOME RUN IN HIS FIRST MLB AT BAT
NO DOUBT THAT'S HOW YOU MAKE YOUR MLB DEBUT
115.2 MPH EXIT VELOCITY, 434 FEET, HR IN 30/30 BALLPARKS pic.twitter.com/Q9eB7aGuzD
— Platinum Ke’Bryan (@PlatinumKey13) April 25, 2025
“He had a good at-bat, got one up and he hit it hard,” manager Derek Shelton said on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show, following the Pirates’ 4-3 loss Thursday. “We’ve seen him hit balls hard. It was a good swing.”
Gorski had to wait patiently before the opportunity to make his MLB debut arrived.
A second-round (No. 57 overall) draft pick by the Pirates out of Indiana in 2019, Gorski’s career appeared to have stalled somewhat in the minor leagues over the last several seasons.
And that was despite power-hiting potential, showcased consistently at Single-A, Double-A and Triple-A.
Last year, he clubbed 23 homers at Triple-A.
In 2023, he split time between Indianapolis and Double-A Altoona, hitting 20 homers, while the year prior, he hit a total of 24 in the minor leagues.
That said, a high strikeout rate and career .246 minor-league batting average created questions as to his big-league viabilty.
That said, at the time of his promotion Thursday, Gorski was slashing .300/.325/.529 with three homers, seven doubles and 14 RBIs at Triple-A.
Additionally, on top of his natural outfield positions, Gorski developed the ability to play first base in an organization that’s often been lacking options there.
That’s where he factored in Thursday, starting at first base before moving to left field for one inning.
Regardless of the scenic route he took to the big leagues, Gorski has arrived.
It didn’t take long for him to make his presence felt.
“I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I was going to be,” Gorski said. “I was probably a little bit more nervous this morning, just going through the day, but just stuck to my approach, getting to balls that I knew were coming from (Anderson). Just stuck with what I knew I could do.”
His first at-bat started out rough, as Gorski quickly found himself in an 0-2 hole, having swung and missed on a fastball before fouling off a changeup from the soft-throwing Anderson.
But Gorski worked the count to 2-2 and Anderson, throwing his seventh pitch to the rookie, unwisely left an 87.2 mph heater elevated, with Gorski connecting on it for an exit velocity of 115.2 mph.
With the home run, he became the first Pirate since Starling Marte on July 26, 2012, to homer in his first MLB at-bat.
That was Gorski’s only hit on the night, as he finished 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
In the field, Gorski committed an error at first base, failing to field a grounder hit his way by Luis Rengifo.
Still, his debut at-bat impressed.
“Major league debut, gets a hit, gets a homer — I thought overall he had good at-bats,” Shelton said.
Naturally, once he touched home plate and returned to the dugout, Gorski’s teammates were ready to properly receive him and offer their congratulations.
Following some good-natured rookie hazing, of course.
“I got back to the dugout and kind of blacked out a little bit,” Gorski said. “They did the silent treatment on me, which was funny, but yeah, it was really cool.”