Memo to MLB pitchers young and old: Whatever you do, don’t give the new, young hitters anything to hit in their MLB debuts. They’re coming up swinging and they’re ready to make an instant impact at your expense.
On Tuesday night, Carlos Perez of the Los Angeles Angels made his instant impact, becoming the first player since Miguel Cabrera in 2003 to hit a walk-off homer in his major-league debut.
On Wednesday, Eddie Rosario of the Minnesota Twins decided he really didn’t want to wait that long. Instead, he offered at the first pitch he ever saw in a major-league uniform, depositing Scott Kazmir’s 91-mph fastball in the left field bleachers at Target Field for an impressive opposite field home run.
One pitch. One swing. One home run.
We don’t need Statcast to tell us that’s optimal efficiency for a major-league hitter. But as you can probably surmise, there are numerous historical tidbits worth mentioning in connection to that one swing.
For example, Rosario is the 119th player to homer in his first MLB at-bat, but only the 29th to homer on the very first pitch.
Eddie Rosario is also just the 29th player in Major League history to homer on the first pitch of a career.— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) May 7, 2015
Would you believe two of those players are actually pitchers? Both very recent, too.
Of the 29 players to homer on the first pitch of an MLB career, eight are pitchers. Tommy Milone and Adam Wainwright are among that group.— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) May 7, 2015
Starling Marte of the Pittsburgh Pirates was the most recent player to homer on the first pitch he saw. He hit Dallas Keuchel’s first pitch of the game out to left field back on July 26, 2012.
Jorge Soler of the Chicago Cubs is the last major-leaguer to homer in his first at-bat last season. Luke Hughes was the last Twin to do so back on April 28, 2010.
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Rosario, 23, was a fourth-round selection by Minnesota in 2010. Prior to last season, he was ranked as the No. 60 prospect in baseball, but a rough season knocked his value down a few pegs. He’s bounced back a little bit this season, hitting .242/.280/.379 with three homers in 23 games at Triple-A. Enough, at least, that the Twins were willing to give …Read More