PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – A wicked week of weather has left residents picking up the pieces throughout the region after multiple tornadoes touched down, including the first in Pittsburgh city limits since 1998.

It’s been an active and unprecedented tornado season for Southwestern Pennsylvania, and according to experts, storm season began a bit early this year.

Over the past two weeks, we’ve seen storms and high winds create a path of destruction throughout the region, including last weekend in Washington County, before it started again yesterday in parts of Westmoreland, Washington, and Allegheny counties.

The National Weather Service confirmed 19 tornadoes in the tri-state area this year, with 10 in Pennsylvania.

Fourteen happened this month alone, the most we’ve seen in May since 1985. Four of those twisters happened across the Pittsburgh region on Friday.

These numbers are abnormally high. The average number for the entire year is six.

The Pittsburgh Zoo did not take a day off Saturday after a tornado came through on Friday. Parts are a bit messy with leaves and tree limbs strewn about.

On people’s minds was just how rare it was that a tornado was in the city itself.

Tornadoes and Western Pennsylvania don’t typically find themselves in the same sentence.

“It’s not something that usually happens; it’s like a Kansas thing,” Mat Georgetti said.

Or so Georgetti thought. He spent his day at the Pittsburgh Zoo.

“It’s kind of wild because we have a bunch of mountains here.”

Over in Westmoreland County, National Weather Service meteorologist Matthew Kramar was assessing the damage of what was determined to be an EF0 tornado.

“People are very lucky. It moved over highly residential areas. This is a crisis adverted in a way that the damage was as minimal as it was. The tornado was not very strong, but still enough to cause damage to trees, siding, shingles,” Kramar said.

He got a look at a trampoline that was mangled.

“All of a sudden, I saw the wind going crazy behind me,” Matt Kaninberg said.

Kaninberg says it all happened quickly.

“I didn’t think anything of it. My wife calls me and says you need to get outside now. I look[ed] out, and my trampoline was two houses down; it was crazy.”

Kramar says we average four to six tornadoes a year. We’ve had 19 this year, including 14 in May alone.

“We are well ahead of schedule on our tornado season,” Kramar said.

Zoo employee Christopher Haro experienced the storm on his way home.

“It’s a bit scary,” Haro said. “It’s a real shocker, I mean, the hot and the cold weather, especially this late in the season already, it’s a lot of devastation going on, so we’re worrying driving home, being inside the house or even with the dogs at home, it’s a lot.”

Everyone is hoping the weather simply calms down.

Photos from the Chicago Cubs’ 1-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates at Wrigley Field on May 18, 2024.

Baseball America recently released their staff mock draft for the first 39 selections of the draft. Five of their writers, including Ben Badler, Carlos Collazo, JJ Cooper, Peter Flaherty, and Geoff Pontes, did their mock draft. The Pittsburgh Pirates have two selections in the first 39 picks. That includes the 9th overall pick and the 37th overall pick, with Pontes getting to choose the 9th pick and Badler taking the 37th pick. The two players they selected would build upon the biggest strength of the organization, but many fans probably wouldn’t like it as it ignores the weakest part of the system.

Pontes has right-handed pitcher Trey Yesavage trading in his East Carolina Pirates uniform for a Pittsburgh Pirates uniform. Yesavage has had a great season, working to a 2.09 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, and 4.96 K:BB ratio through 86 frames. Yesavage has struck out a staggering 41.7% of the batters he’s faced to pair with a strong 8.4% walk rate. He’s also only allowed four home runs this season.

Yesavage throws four pitches, all sitting at an above-average level or better. He isn’t like the Pirates’ last first-round pick pitcher, Paul Skenes, as he only sits 93-95 MPH, but it plays as an above-average pitch already because of its carry. His two breaking pitches include a slider and a curveball. Of the two, the former is the better. It’s a mid-80s offering with good lateral movement, according to MLB Pipeline. But his curveball is still a good pitch. His splitter gives him a plus off-speed offering.

Yesavage keeps his arm short in his wind-up and delivers the ball from an overhead arm slot. He is also from Pennsylvania, Pottstown to be specific. This arm slot also helps his fastball get good vertical movement through the zone. He will turn 21 soon after the draft and is considered a top-12 draft prospect by most outlets.

Kuhns is also a PA pitcher, hailing from the historic town of Gettysburg. He is a projectable arm as he stands at 6’3”, 177-LBS. The lanky right-hander can hit the mid-90s. Along with some projectability, he has a quick arm that should help him add velo as he ages. But his curveball is a fun pitch to watch. Kuhns’ breaking offering can hit 3000 RPM. He also can spin his slider well.

Now, it’s still only a mock draft. Nothing is set in stone, so take it for what you will. But if the Pirates truly went this direction with their picks (or even just took one pitcher with their first two picks), you’d almost have to assume they would deal from within the system at the trade deadline for controllable position players. Either way, this would add to a system that has arguably the most pitching depth among any team. However, we shall see how the Pirates draft come July.