In light of Triston McKenzie’s debut, some other Cleveland Indians whose 1st game garnered lots of attention.
Triston McKenzie will make his MLB debut for the Cleveland Indians against the Detroit Tigers at Progressive Field tonight.
McKenzie was once regarded as one of the team’s top prospects. Drafted as a supplemental first-round pick out of high school in 2015, McKenzie rocketed through the system. By 2017, he was pitching in the Future’s Game when the All-Star Game was in mimi.
Unfortunately, injuries dimmed his star, as shoulder problems wiped out his entire 2018 campaign. Additionally, he logged just 16 starts during the 2018 season for the RubberDucks.
Alas, he’s still just 23 years old. What’s his arm look like after such a long layoff? He may not be the top prospect in the system any longer, but for fans who follow prospects, this will be must-see TV.
McKenzie’s start got me thinking of prospects who made their debut with widespread attention. Here’s seven highly anticipated debuts throughout Indians history that I was able to come up with. Let me know if you think someone should be on here.
Francisco Lindor, 2015
A position player drafted by the Indians in the first round? What’s rarer? Finding someone on Gordon Square who’s not wearing a locally produced Cleveland themed T-shirt?
The Indians made Lindor the eighth pick in the 2011 draft, taking him right out of high school.
Lindor was so highly anticipated because everyone know he was going to be good. It didn’t take us long to realize he’d be great.
There were times we wanted to see him earlier than 2015. There was debate as to whether the Indians should trade him en route to a playoff appearance in 2013.
Fortunately, it all worked out and w’ve been treated to one of the franchise’s all-time greats, even if he’s not here past 2021.
Lindor went 1 for 2 in his first game, which came against the Tigers on June 8, 2015.
Brandon Phillips, 2002
2002, Brandon Phillips: The centerpiece of the Bartolo Colon trade made his debut when he was just 21 years old. You’ve got to remember, the 2002 campaign was a rough one for the Tribe after treating fans to seven years of contending baseball.
Phillips was supposed to superstar who would bridge the Indians into the next era. That September, Tribe fans caught their first glimpse of the infielder.
Alas, Phillips was promoted too soon. He’d spend more time in the minors than the majors until the Tribe reached the tipping point with him in 2006. The story goes that then manager Eric Wedge could’ve given Phillips a roster spot, but went in different direction instead. The Indians gave him away for a player to be named later (Jeff Stevens).
Phillips would go on to be a three-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winer for the Reds.
Losing him was one of the biggest blunders of the Progressive Field era.
C.C. Sabathia, 2002
The Indians were so bad at drafting, that there was tremendous buzz surrounding the portly southpaw, who had reached the majors in just three years after entering the 1998 draft out of high school. He’d go onto log 251 wins. Worked out pretty well for Carsten Charles.
Bartolo Colon, 1997
You’d had to be around back then to understand the fascination with Colon. There was no video of Colon tearing through the minors.
You didn’t know much about Colon, other for the Plain Dealer’s minor league statistics, which showed this Dominican Republic mystery striking out batters at high rate when he pitched for the then Triple-A affiliate Buffalo Bisons.
There was just so much mystery surrounding him, you couldn’t wait to watch him pitch.
When he got here, you could see the jump on his fastball, but it didn’t yield immediate results, as Colon went 4-7 with a 5.65 ERA in his rookie campaign. In fact, it took him five starts to get his first win.
In the end, Colon would total 247 career victories while earning the title of The Most Interesting Person in Baseball during his 21-year career. And yes, a lot of words have been typed arguing Colon’s case for the Hall of Fame.
I won’t do that here, but a tremendous career, none-the-less.
Herb Score, 1955
When you’re tabbed “the left-handed Bob Feller, you better believe fans want to see what you’ve got.
Score was promoted to Cleveland as a 21-year-old rookie, where he joined a rotation that included none other than Feller himself. Having just picked up the Minor League Player of the Year award in 1954, big things were expected.
in his first start on April 15, 1955, Score tossed a complete game while striking out nine. He was, as they say, on his way. In that debut season, Score would go16-10 with a 2.85 ERA. He fanned 247 in 227.1 innings. He followed that up with a 20-win season.
In 1957, Score took a line drive off the eye. Many view that as the reason his career started to trend downward. Score actually attributed his decline to a tendon injury in his arm that happened in 1958.
He was one of the hardest throwers around who was the left-handed Bob Feller for two seasons. We all wish we could’ve been treated to more.
Larry Doby, 1947
Larry Doby wasn’t your typical rookie when he put on an Indians uniform for the first time on July 5, 1947. He was a Negro Leagues star who began his career at 17. He and Monte Irvin were key cogs that helped Newark Eagles win a championship after he served the Navy.
So just image the pressure Doby must’ve felt as the first African-American to play in the American League. Jackie Robinson had broke the color barrier in April of that year, and the stories of what Robinson had to deal with are well documented.
Doby didn’t get off to a smooth start on the field, going 0-1 in his lone appearance during his first game. He’d only get 33 plate appearances the rest of the year.
The next year is when Doby broke out. He’d hit .301 (.848 OPS) and then he’d hit a home run and hit .318 en route to help the Indians win the World Series–the last the organization’s been able to claim.
Doby would go onto a Hall of Fame career while earning a place as one of the greatest Indians of all time.
Bob Feller, 1936
Imagine if Twitter existed back during the end of FDR’s first term. Rapid Robert would be trending every fifth day. Just image all the stat cast data being published to help understand what was clear as day to the naked eye: Feller could throw a baseball, really, really, really fast.
He was just 17 years old when he left his family farm in Iowa to take the bump for the Tribe. Think about it. Seventeen. Not one day in the minors. That’s the kind of stuff legends are made of.
It was August when Feller made his first start and he gave a glimpse of the pitcher he’d be for the next 20 years, as he struck out 15 St. Louis Browns. Shortly after that outing, he go on to set the AL rookie record for strikeouts in a game when he fanned 17.
Feller went on to record 266 victories. He would’ve had more, but he enlisted in the Army during World War II. You never heard him complain about it. Guys from that era didn’t do that. Something needed to be done. They did it. Mission accomplished.
Feller remains the greatest Indians pitcher of all time.
Interesting fact: Despite pitching in two World Series, Feller doesn’t own a victory in the Fall Classic. Chad Ogea, on the other hand, had two in the 1997 Series. Gotta love Baseball.
This is not a comprehensive list. Who did I miss. Whose debut were you heavily anticipating?