PITTSBURGH -- Paul Skenes woke up Wednesday to three missed calls from a number he didn't have saved on his phone. He had thrown his scheduled bullpen session before Triple-A Indianapolis' 11:08 a.m. ET game against Louisville and he needed a nap after the game.

It turns out that call was from Miguel Pérez, Indianapolis' manager, who was asking if Skenes was going to go to the team dinner. Skenes hadn't heard of a team dinner and was confused.

After a bit of back and forth trying to figure out what was going on, Pérez hit Skenes with the real reason for his call: "Are you really gonna make me look for another pitcher on Saturday?"

"I don't know, am I?" Skenes asked back.

The wait was finally over. Skenes, who is MLB Pipeline's No. 3 prospect and top pitcher, was heading to The Show.

"To be honest, I probably should have saved [his number] at some point," Skenes joked. "... I wasn't expecting a phone call to be honest. I wasn't expecting that to be how I found out."

On Saturday vs. the Cubs at 4:05 p.m., last year's first overall Draft pick will make his Major League debut with the Pirates. You can watch his debut free on MLB.TV and on MLB Network.

In a way, his ascent to the Majors was rapid. You have to go back to Ben McDonald in 1989 to find a No. 1 pick who made his Major League debut faster than Skenes' 10 months and two days between being drafted and debuting.

In another way, it took forever. Skenes' stuff looked Major League-ready last year when pitching for Louisiana State University. However, the Pirates opted to build him up slowly this year to get him used to the professional game and manage his workload.

"I didn't really know what to expect," Skenes said. "I kinda knew that once the buildup had finished that it could happen, but I didn't really know when that buildup was going to finish. In my mind, I've felt ready since the beginning of the offseason. But obviously, the club has their definition of 'ready' in terms of building me up."

The conservative approach led to some shorter outings and a gradual build up in terms of the number of pitches or innings he would be limited to each outing. Skenes didn't ask what those limits would be. He took the mindset of just trying to get outs as quickly as possible. Needless to say he did that, recording a 0.99 ERA and 45 strikeouts over 27 1/3 innings. Nearly 55% of his outs in the Minors were via the punchout.

"I'm excited he's here," said manager Derek Shelton. "He deserves it. He's proven that he needed to be in the big leagues."

The Pirates have enjoyed quality starting pitching this young season, but adding Skenes to the mix gives them another serious weapon. His stuff, ranging from the 102 mph fastball to the wipeout slider to his new "splinker" splitter-sinker hybrid, has played in pro ball so far. He's still trying to set up the fastball and slider, but if he needs to go to a changeup or curveball, he showed with Indianapolis that he can miss bats.

"I'm excited," Skenes said. "The biggest thing is, I just want to see how it plays. I don't think it's going to be too different. Usages might change, that kinda thing. But it's gonna be fun to be with some veterans who have been around the game, and learn from them."

His arrival comes with heightened expectations. He is widely considered to be the game's top pitching prospect since Stephen Strasburg, and the anticipation for his start Saturday is going to have PNC Park at a fever pitch.

Fan expectations can run wild about what he could potentially do while on PNC Park's pitching rubber Saturday, but he has his sights on one thing.

"Just want to put us in a position to win," Skenes said. "I don't know about specifics yet. Kind of just started looking into them. Just want to execute and put us in a position to win."

Skenes could potentially provide a big boost for a Pirates team that started hot but has stumbled of late to a 17-21 record. There's plenty of time to turn it around, and Skenes thinks there's good baseball to come.

"I would definitely say we're close," Skenes said. "I think being around the team in Spring Training and watching the club over the past month or so, we're close. I think there is a lot to look forward to."