Toronto Blue Jays: Top Starting Pitching Debuts

A week ago, Blue Jay fans were treated to a fantastic debut by Alek Manoah at Yankee Stadium.  After starting his Triple-A season 3-0 with a 0.50 ERA through three appearances he was called up and shut down the Yankees.

I thought it would be fun to take a look at other prospects who made their debut as a Starting Pitcher and had similar outputs. As such here is a list of the Top 10 Debuts over the last 20 years.

11. Ryan Borucki – June 26, 2018 – Loss – 6IP | 6H | 2ER | 4BB | 3K

The Blue Jays took a chance when they selected Ryan Borucki in the 15th round out of Mundelein High School in Illinois during the 2012 MLB Draft.  Borucki had committed to Iowa University, however, after being offered a signing bonus over $400,000 he signed with the club.  It appeared to be the right signing for the Blue Jays, as outside of an injury in 2015 he climbed through the ranks and made his debut on June 26, 2018 against the eventual American League West winning Houston Astros.

The first batter Borucki ever faced and recorded an out against was current teammate George Springer, who he got to fly out to centre fielder Kevin Pillar.  Throughout the game, Borucki continually had runners in scoring position, but was able to battle out of it, including in the fourth inning when Josh Reddick led off with a double; Borucki was able to get the next three batters out without letting Reddick move up the base paths.  The only run that would come in off of Borucki, would be in the fifth inning, when Evan Gattis hit a two out single to drive in Alex Bergman.  Borucki would leave the game after the sixth inning where he had a 1-2-3 inning, and trailing 1-0.  The Blue Jays would go on to lose the game 7-0 and if you are wondering how Springer did against Borucki, he went 0 for 3.

10. Dave Bush – July 2, 2004 – Loss – 5.2 IP |4H | 1ER | 1BB |4K

Dave Bush was a top prospect for the Blue Jays immediately after being selected out of Wake Forest University in the second round of the 2002 MLB Draft.  Bush dominated the minor leagues where he posted a 21-13 record over his first two and a half seasons, including 2003 where he had a 14-6 record and 2.79 ERA split between New Hampshire and Dunedin.

Bush had a couple very unique things about his MLB debut, one of which was it was an All-Canadian match up as the Blue Jays took on the Montreal Expos, and the second being that the game was played at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Both the Blue Jays and Expos were struggling at this point, with the Blue Jays currently 11 games below .500, while the Expos were even worse.  The 24-year old prospect started the game out very well as he retired all three batters he faced in the first inning and was able to remain relatively out of any trouble as he would never have multiple base runners in any inning until the sixth.  Bush was able to get the first two batters out to start the frame, but after back-to-back singles by Jose Vidro and Nick Johnson, Bush was replaced by Justin Speier.  Speier would allow his first batter (Tony Batista) to single and one of the inherited runners to scored before retiring the final out of the inning on the next batter.  Bush would finish the game throwing 5.2 innings, allowing just the one run on four hits and a walk, while striking out four.

Bush would be a useful starter for the Blue Jays for the remainder of the season as well as in 2005 when he posted a 10-15 record with a 4.29 ERA.  However, he became the main piece in a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers that brought Lyle Overbay to Toronto.  Bush would have a five year career as a starter with Milwaukee and after struggling with the Texas Rangers he found himself back in the Blue Jays organization for 2013 where he played the season in Triple-A outside of one appearance with the big club.

7. Nate Pearson – July 29, 2020 – No Decision – 5IP | 2H | 0 ER | 2BB | 5K

The most hyped pitching prospect in recent Blue Jays memory is that of former first round supplemental pick Nate Pearson.  Pearson steamrolled through the minor league system as in his first stint in professional baseball he threw 20 innings, allowing just two runs while striking out 26 batters to five walks.  In 2019, the year before his MLB debut he pitched at three different levels and posted a 2.30 ERA and 0.89 WHIP while tossing 101 innings and striking out 119, which only caused more excitement.

In his debut, Pearson went head-to-head with three-time Cy Young awarded winner Max Scherzer and the defending World Series Champions, Washington Nationals.  Pearson was not intimidated and struck out Trea Turner to start the game on four pitches, and got out of the first inning with just a walked batter.  In his second inning, the Nationals mustered two soft ground outs and a strikeout.  After allowing a double to lead off the fourth inning, Pearson would retire six consecutive hitters to end his outing at five innings without allowing a run.  Pearson would finish the game with a no decision as the Blue Jays would eventually lose in extra innings 4-0.

6. Trent Thornton – March 31, 2019 – No Decision – 5IP |2H | 0ER | 0BB | 8K

The only player not drafted by the Blue Jays on this list, Trent Thornton was acquired from the Houston Astros for Aledmys Diaz in the offseason leading into 2019.  Thornton impressed Charlie Montoyo in Spring Training and he made the major league club to start the season.  Thornton had a favourable start, as he drew the Detroit Tigers who would go on to finish the season 47-114.

Thornton allowed the first batter of the game, Jeimer Candelario to single on the second pitch he saw, however, the right-hander would go on to strike out the next three batters which started a stretch of retiring 11 straight.  Niko Goodrum would break up the streak in the fourth inning with a single, which Thornton would respond by retiring seven of his next eight batters to leave the game without allowing a run.  He allowed just two base runners, with neither reaching second base, and striking out eight batters, but was removed after 75 pitches.  The Blue Jays would allow three runs in the seventh inning and after making a comeback lost in extra innings.

5. Brett Cecil – May 5, 2009 – No Decision – 6IP | 6H |1ER | 0BB | 6K

Brett Cecil had the more success in his career as a relief pitcher and in fact was an All-Star in 2013 as a bullpen arm, but he came up through the system as a starter.  Cecil was a first-round supplemental pick in 2007 as compensation for Justin Speier leaving in free agency the year prior and made his MLB debut less than two years after being drafted.  Cecil was starting for the Blue Jays who were 18-10 to begin the season against the lowly Cleveland Indians who were seven games below .500.

The southpaw prospect started off his career well by striking out lead-off hitter Grady Sizemore.  After a pair of singles, he left the runners stranded by retiring the next two batters, which included getting Shin-Soo Choo to strikeout.  The second inning, Cecil’s nerves seemed to get the better of him as he hit a pair of batters, along with allowing another hit, which led to two runners scoring that inning.  However, after the second inning Cecil settled in and was able to pitch through the sixth inning and hand over the game to Jason Frasor with a 3-2 lead.  Unfortunately, Cecil would end up with a no decision as Cleveland scored four in the top of the seventh inning before the Blue Jays responded with seven in the bottom half to take the game 10-6.

The following season, Cecil would go on to win 15-games in the starting rotation, including going 11-2 against the American League East teams (4-0 against the Yankees).  He would struggle over the following two years which led to him being put in the bullpen where he became one of the most reliable relievers in all baseball.  Over his career as a reliever, Cecil posted a 3.61 ERA over 369 appearances which led to him signing a massive four-year, $30 Million dollar deal with the St. Louis Cardinals after his time in Toronto.

4. Marc Rzepczynski – July 7, 2009 – No Decision – 6IP | 2H | 1ER | 0BB | 7K

The Blue Jays selected Marc Rzepczynski in the fifth round of the 2007 MLB Draft and he turned heads as he soared through the minor league system.  By the time he was called up in 2009, Rzepczynski had posted a 20-11 record with a 2.76 ERA through the farm system.

He would face the Tampa Bay Rays during his first appearance and showed no signs of nerves as he sat down the first five batters he faced, which three were by way of the strikeout before walking Pat Burrell with two outs in the second.  In fact, during his entire game the only time he was in any trouble was in the fourth inning when he had a brief battle with his control.  Rzepczynski would walk three batters in the inning, while also throwing a wild pitch and giving up a single, but was able to limit the damage to just one run.  He finished his debut off with seven consecutive outs, but was trailing 1-0.  The Blue Jays would score a run in the eighth inning to get him off the hook for the loss, but Brandon League would surrender a walk off two-run home run to Burrell in the bottom of the eleventh.

After making 25 starts between 2009 and 2010, Rzepczynski would be moved to the bullpen in 2011 where he appeared in 43 games and posted a 2.97 ERA and 1.09 WHIP before being traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in a eight player deal that saw Colby Rasmus come to the Blue Jays.  Rzepcynski has bounced around the league since leaving the Blue Jays and appeared in six different uniforms since he pitched in Toronto.

3. Brandon Lyon – August 4, 2001 – Win – 7.1IP | 4H | 1ER |1 BB | 5K

The Blue Jays took Brandon Lyon in the 14th round of the 1999 MLB Draft out of Dixie State University, and after posting a record of 15-6 over his first two seasons of minor league ball he was called up to the Blue Jays just 26 months after being drafted.  Lyon took the ball at Skydome on August 4, 2001 against the struggling Baltimore Orioles who came into the game with a 45-65 record, while Toronto was not having a good season either and were eight games below .500.

The game did not start out that great as Lyon allowed a leadoff triple to veteran Brady Anderson, who was driven in by the next batter, Melvin Mora on a sacrifice fly.  Lyon would allow the third batter to single, but started to dial it in after that.  Lyon would go on to strike out two of the next three batters to get out of the inning and allowed just the one run on three hits.  At one point, Lyon would sit down 14 consecutive batters and pitch into the eighth inning. He would finish the game tossing 7.1 innings, allowing just the one run on four hits and a walk, while striking out five.

Lyon would either get hit hard or dominate opponents for the remainder of the season, as he would pitch at least six innings and allowing one run or fewer in five of his 11 starts, however, he also allowed six runs in two starts.  Lyon finished the season with a 5-4 record with a 4.29 ERA, unfortunately after struggling in 2002, GM J.P. Ricciardi would place him on waivers and he would be claimed by the Boston Red Sox.  Lyon would become a bullpen arm that appeared in a total of 546 MLB games after he left Toronto and pitched in at least 60 games a season on six occasions.

2. Alek Manoah – May 27, 2001 – Win – 6IP | 2H | 0 ER | 2BB | 7K

The Blue Jays used the 11th overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft to select the big man, Alek Manoah from West Virginia University and he immediately agreed to the signing bonus that paid him just over $4.5 million.  Manoah looked dominant in his first trip through professional baseball when he was assigned to Vancouver of Short-A baseball.  Manoah tossed just 17 innings with the Canadians after pitching a full College season, but he left an impression as he allowed just five runs and struck out 27.  After having three dominant starts in Triple-A this season he got the call last week and started at Yankee Stadium.

Like many on this list, Manoah showed some nerves to start the game as he walked lead-off hitter D.J. LeMahieu on four pitches, however, he settled in after that and looked like he completely overmatched Aaron Judge in his at-bat in the first inning.  Manoah only allowed four base runners over five innings, none of which found themselves in scoring position.  At one point, Manoah sat down eight straight batters and took just 13 pitches to get through the sixth inning, which was his final inning of the game.  Manoah finished with seven strikeouts over six innings.

Manoah will take the mound for the second time Wednesday night and I know I won’t be missing the chance to watch that game.

1. Jesse Litsch – May 15, 2007 – Win – 8.2 IP | 4H | 1ER | 3BB | 1K

Nobody ever had Jesse Litsch very high on their prospect radar as he was a 24th round pick in 2004 and did not look to have overpowering stuff, however he continually progressed.  Litsch put up an 8-2 record and 2.24 ERA during the 2007 minor league season that helped him earn his first career start during that year.  Litsch was a big reason for the turn around in what looked to be a long disappointing season when he got called up.  When he took the mound for his first start, the Blue Jays were 16-22 to start the season and were able to finish the regular season schedule four games above .500.

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His first start came against the Baltimore Orioles and was arguably the best MLB debut by any Blue Jays starting pitcher.  However, it did not start out so smooth as Litsch walked his first batter, which was followed up by a single and putting runners on first and third.

Litsch, who was known to induce a lot of ground balls was able to get Miguel Tejada to ground into a double play and then got Ramon Hernandez to ground out to get out of the inning allowing just the one run.  Litsch completely settled in after the first inning as he retired 11 straight batters at one point.   After the first inning no batter would reach second base for the rest of the game.  Litsch pitched into the ninth inning and got the first two runners out on ground balls, but walked Tejada and was pulled.  Litsch was replaced by Jeremy Accardo, who was able to get the final out two batters later to end the game.

Listch was a very good pitcher for the Blue Jays over his first two seasons, posting a 20-18 record and a 3.67 ERA and even led the American League in shutouts in 2008.  Unfortunately for the right-handed pitcher his injuries killed his career and he had to retire at the age of 26.

What do you think of the list?  Would you rank it differently? Is there another performance you think should be on the list?