Boston Red Sox: Evaluating Eduard Bazardo’s MLB Debut

Red Sox prospect Eduard Bazardo made his MLB debut on Wednesday

On Wednesday, the Boston Red Sox had a doubleheader against the Minnesota Twins. Due to that, they were allowed to bring up a 27th man for the day to help out in those two games. They chose Eduard Bazardo.

There was no guarantee that Bazardo would get his debut in those two games, which is a little stressful. He was only brought in to be the extra man on the active roster for the doubleheader and was sent back to Triple-A Worcester by the end of the day. So if his debut didn’t happen in either of those games, there was no way of knowing when it would happen.

As luck would have it, Bazardo entered the game in the seventh inning (remember doubleheaders only go seven innings) of the second game. So how did he do?

Anyone that has read the Prospect Watch in the past knows that I am a big fan of what he brings to the table. I know he can absolutely bring it. Still, the Majors is a different animal. Especially when you are making your debut, things can go very wrong very fast.

Baz got off to a good start though, getting the first batter to ground out on a three-pitch at-bat (all strikes). He walked the next man on six pitches though, but bounced back with a strikeout in five pitches.

Another walk on seven pitches created a little bit of a problem for Bazardo, but the Red Sox rookie got a very weak ground out on three pitches to end the game.

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It wasn’t the cleanest inning, but Bazardo got out of there with no runs allowed, striking out one and not allowing any hits. In fact, the two balls put in play against the right-handed pitcher were both pretty weak contact.

Bazardo was sent back down after the game, but he now has a Major League inning under his belt. More importantly, he has proven he can hang with some pretty good Major League hitters.

The Red Sox have a lot of depth when it comes to pitching. That sounds weird to say after last year, but they are pretty stacked at the moment. But Bazardo has now stated his case.

He showed off a good fastball hitting the mid-90s and although the command wasn’t perfect, his off-speed stuff showed plenty of movement and deception.

The Red Sox have now won nine straight games, moving to 9-3. Things are going so well for them, that it’s hard to imagine they will need to dip into the minors anytime soon (outside of injury woes).

That being said, it is safe to assume we have not seen the last from Eduard Bazardo. His first MLB appearance went great, everyone should be excited to see what the future holds for the 25-year-old.