Toronto Blue Jays: Top Starting Pitching Debuts

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.