Boston Red Sox pitcher Kyle Hart made his major league debut.
The game started with some absolutely terrible luck for Kyle Hart in his major league debut for the Boston Red Sox.
After a lead-off walk, he got the next batter to ground into what should have been a double play. And he even got them to hit it to Jonathan Arauz, a fantastic fielder. Arauz booted it though, and instead of no one on with two outs, Hart was facing a first-and-second with no outs situation. He managed to keep it to just two runs (both unearned) with two strikeouts. But still a tough start to the day.
Boston immediately picked him up in the bottom of the first, scoring three runs. But now the story was set – how would Hart respond to the adversity?
Well the next inning went well, Hart didn’t allow a run and struck out two more batters. The third inning was disastrous though, as the Rays starting seeing the ball extremely well off the left-hander.
More from Red Sox Prospects
- Predicting top Red Sox outfield prospect Ceddanne Rafaela’s timeline to the majors
- Predicting Red Sox top prospect Marcelo Mayer’s timeline to the majors
- Red Sox risk repeating rookie mistake with Eric Hosmer release
- Red Sox invited group of players you’ve probably never heard of to Spring Training
- Jeter Downs’ official departure will continue to haunt Red Sox
Hart faced six batters in the third inning. He did not get any of them out.
The 27-year-old’s final line? Seven runs (five earned) on seven hits (two home runs) and three walks with four strikeouts over 2+ innings. And if it wasn’t for Phillips Valdez, it could have been worse.
That’s definitely not the type of debut he was likely envisioning.
However, Hart did show a little something. He has deceptive stuff and had thrown some really nice pitches to get hitters looking at strike three.
Meanwhile, the third inning really fell apart for Hart and he gave up a bomb of a homer. But before that, everything was hit pretty soft. The first inning was filled with bad luck and poorly hit balls.
Hart did not get a win. His ERA is 22.50. But he is in the Majors now. And the strikeout pitch was working for the first two innings. He gave everyone a glimpse of the very good MLB pitcher he could be in those two innings.
The third inning was bad, no one is denying that. And overall, the debut was not good. But Hart has potential. He went through a tough grind to get to the Majors after Tommy John surgery early in his MiLB career. And thinking one bad outing is going to stop him just seems foolish.
Hart showed that he has a good mix of pitches. That mix worked at first but Hart started missing his spot and the Rays weren’t missing the pitches right down the plate.
And let’s throw this out there. Hart was prone to some bad starts in the minors too. You know what he tended to do after those? Twirl some gems. The lefty put together quite a few long stretches of great games after a bad outing. Give him time to straighten things out and see if he can do the same thing in the Majors.
Boston should not be too discouraged by this start. Things have been going dreadfully for the team lately. So it only seemed right that Hart’s debut wouldn’t go as planned either.
Just remember, for two innings Hart gave fans and the team something to be excited about. It’s not much, but it’s something. And this team desperately needs something.
For two innings, Kyle Hart showed what he can bring to the team. Don’t let that third inning ruin everything – he deserves another shot.