Wishing on a star: Pitching to Paul Skenes was dream come true for 9-year-old Riley Wheaton

When Riley Wheaton followed Paul Skenes around PNC Park on Tuesday, his favorite part came when they got to the bullpen. That’s where the 9-year-old got to pitch to his favorite major leaguer.

It was a wish-come-true moment for Wheaton, who celebrated his final round of chemotherapy by recording 10 strikeouts against 16 batters in four scoreless innings for his 10-under team in Bangor, Maine.

The Pittsburgh Pirates used their technology to track Wheaton’s pitches, impressing the 2024 National League rookie of the year and two-time All-Star right-hander by hitting 46 mph on the radar gun.

“He throws hard. Everything he’s dealt with or not, he throws hard for a 9-year-old,” Skenes said. “I’m not kidding when I say by the end of it, my hand was a little sore.”

Our @MearsHannah_ shares more on Riley’s unforgettable day at PNC Park with his favorite player Paul Skenes ???? https://t.co/5j1is1lQyO pic.twitter.com/g67ZxzIlgt

— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) July 22, 2025

Wheaton’s love for baseball pulled him through some trying times the past nine months, when his fight for his life became a big story in New England. A GoFundMe account raised $76,508 to help the Wheaton family and Make-A-Wish granted him a day of his dreams.

In October 2024, Wheaton was flown to Boston Children’s Hospital in complete heart failure, and received life-saving treatment by using an Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation machine. Diagnosed with myocarditis, Wheaton received five chest tubes in four months to remove fluid from his lungs. In January 2025, a biopsy of his pericardium came back positive for Angiosarcoma, a rare, aggressive and sometimes terminal former of cancer. After six rounds of chemotherapy, he went into remission.

Wheaton wanted to spend his Make-A-Wish day with Skenes because the 6-foot-6, 260-pound pitcher regularly tops triple digits with his four-seam fastball. Skenes threw a 100.3 mph fastball in a strikeout of Riley Greene in the All-Star Game last week in Atlanta.

“Paul Skenes is a really fast pitcher and he’s my favorite player,” Wheaton said while wearing a personalized jersey and sitting in front of a locker with his nameplate. “He was really nice.”

Meeting Riley brought out Skenes’ softer side, putting life in perspective for the 23-year-old superstar.

“Just the amount of adversity that Riley has dealt with from just a young age — he’s 9 — really puts things in perspective,” Skenes said. “When I was 9, I was not worried about any of the stuff he’s worried about or that his parents and brother are worried about. We all get dealt adversity in some ways. His is just a lot greater and a lot sooner than a lot of us deal with. It’s just very different. He’s probably a stronger person than I am.”

Related

• Mitch Keller gets run support, as Pirates hit 8 doubles to defeat Detroit
• 'Enjoying every bit of it': Pirates 1st-round pick Seth Hernandez signs for $7.25 million bonus
• Tim Benz: For Paul Skenes, playing the 'stopper' role means something a little different in Pittsburgh these days

Wheaton’s parents, Kristina and Brad, can’t argue that point. Kristina noted that one of Riley’s friends nicknamed him the GOAT — an anagram often used to shorten the phrase Greatest of All Time — and got him a trophy while he was hospitalized.

“It’s got a dual meeting for him,” Kristina Wheaton said. “It’s God Over All Things, and that is truly what has gotten him to where he is.”

The Wheatons were still pinching themselves over the experience of spending the day with Skenes as guests of the Pirates. Riley and his older brother Brady shagged fly balls in the outfield during a batting practice where Oneil Cruz crushed home runs.

“When Riley said he wanted to meet Paul Skenes, I said, ‘I can’t wait for Paul to meet Riley,’” Kristina Wheaton said. “He agreed with us. You could tell that he read his story and he was invested in this moment. He really took the time to be with him and make this the best day ever. Just felt like being around an old friend. To be able to relate to baseball, we are quite a baseball family. We really hope this was as impactful for Paul as it was for us.”

Riley Wheaton threw out the ceremonial first pitch to a squatting Skenes before Tuesday’s game against the Tigers, and the family also planned to attend the series finale on Wednesday.

“Hopefully, we made a lifelong fan,” Skenes said, “and he keeps coming to Pirates games.”