Starling Marte Homers In First At-Bat

Starling Marte made his major-league debut for the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday, and as you might expect from the swing-first slugger, he didn't take a single ball in his first at-bat. In fact, he swung at the very first pitch he saw. So typical. He also hit it about 410 feet.

Yes, Marte rewarded the patient Pirates fans who have waited for him since he was tearing up Double-A last year, took a mighty cut at the first pitch he saw in the big leagues, and sent it to the right of the Crawford Boxes in Houston. You can see the video and listen to the call here, or you can get a hot, slick, animated image here:

Marte is the 27th player to hit a home run on his first pitch in major-league history, and the first since ... wait a sec ... Tom Milone, who did it last year when he was with the Nationals before he was traded to make room for Bryce Harper.

Starling Marte: A New Kind Of Pirates Debut

Starling Marte is making his debut for the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday, and he's a new kind of Pirates prospect for an unusually successful Pirates team.