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.

9. Ricky Romero – April 9, 2009 – Win – 6IP | 7H | 2ER | 2B | 5K

The Blue Jays used one of their highest picks the club ever had when they took Ricky Romero sixth overall in the 2005 MLB Draft.  Being such a high draft pick, Romero was watched closely throughout his years in the minor leagues, and while he wasn’t dominant he continued to climb and made his debut on April 9, 2009 when he made the team out of Spring Training.  His first start came against the Detroit Tigers who would go on to finish one game back from winning the Central Division that season.

Romero did not look to be intimidated whatsoever when he took the mound as he needed just nine pitches to have a 1-2-3 first inning.  In the second inning, Romero would show some perseverance; after walking Miguel Cabrera and allowing a single to Carlos Guillen he would battle.  Romero would get Brandon Inge to ground into a double play and then follow that up with striking out Matt Treanor.  Romero would struggle in the third inning as he allowed four consecutive hits with two outs which saw a pair of runs come in to score.  However, Romero would have fairly smooth sailing for the next three innings, as he did not allow another run.  He turned the game over to the bullpen in the seventh inning with a 4-2 lead, which they held for his first career win.

Romero was a dominant pitcher during his first three seasons with the Blue Jays posting a 42-29 record with a 3.60 ERA which included being an All-Star in 2011 and finishing with votes for the AL Cy Young.  However, something happened to his health after that season and he lost his control, which led to him leading the league with 105 walks in 2012. After starting the 2013 with an 11.05 ERA over four games he was released by the Blue Jays with almost three years and $22.5 million left on his contract.

8. Dustin McGowan – July 30, 2005 – No Decision – 5IP | 2H | 1 ER | 3BB | 6K

The Blue Jays drafted Dustin McGowan out of Long County High School (Georgia) in the supplemental first round of the 2000 MLB Draft as compensation for losing Graeme Lloyd.  He was a high school pitcher he took more seasoning in the minor leagues before making his major league debut, and as such it was just over five years before he made his first appearance for the Blue Jays.

McGowan would make his debut in late July of 2005 against the Texas Rangers, who had an identical 52-50 record as the Toronto Blue Jays.  Like many first-time pitchers, McGowan showed a lot of nerves to start the game as he walked the first two batters he faced, however, he was able to retire the next three to get out of the inning.  The offence spotted him a 2-0 lead after the first inning which McGowan would not relinquish.  He did give up a single run in the bottom of the second on a sacrifice fly by Rod Barajas.  McGowan would go on to pitch five innings and always seemed to have runners on, but battled out of it each time.  Unfortunately, after leaving the game Jason Frasor came in the sixth inning and allowed a pair of runs and the Blue Jays would go on to lose the game 3-2.

McGowan would stick with the club for the remainder of the season, however, after allowing 30 earned runs over his next six appearances (29.1 IP) he was moved to the bullpen after a September 1 start.  In the bullpen he would allow just one run over 11 innings and six appearances.  McGowan would remain in Toronto for nine years after his debut, but was always battling injuries and inconsistency.  He always seemed to be one step away from becoming a dominant pitcher but never got there.  McGowan would leave in free agency after the 2014 season.

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.

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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• Blue Jays: Comparisons for Alek Manoah’s Second Season
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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?