CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – A player’s Major League debut is a memorable night.
Unfortunately, Friday night against the Houston Astros is not a memory that Hunter Gaddis will recall fondly.
Gaddis, who was recalled from Triple A Columbus, made his first Big League start, but lasted just 3.1 innings and surrendered a pair of home runs to Trey Mancini, including a Grand Slam, in an 9-3 loss to Houston at Progressive Field.
“It was a tough night. He couldn’t find a way to get through that inning. I don’t think he was wild. I thought he just missed consistently b a little bit,” said manager Terry Francona. “That doesn’t really help. A lot of deep counts. They’re certainly not going to chase much.”
Gaddis became the 13th Guardian to make his MLB debut with Cleveland this season, including the fourth pitcher. He learned of his callup Thursday evening around 10.p.m. and immediately began packing his bags for Cleveland.
“It was crazy, I blacked out. I don’t even remember the conversations I had for the most part,” Gaddis said. “I was rushing around trying to get everything together. It was amazing, I can tell you that.”
He looked comfortable early and didn’t take much time in recording his first MLB strikeout.
Gaddis set down the second batter of the game, Yuli Gurriel with a 75-MPH changeup --a 19 MPH difference from his 94-MPH heater while working a 1-2-3 first inning.
“I love the changeup,” he said with a smile.
His only blip the first trip through the lineup was a solo home run in the second inning to Trey Mancini. Amed Rosario gave the Guardians an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning before Mancini’s blast tied things in the second.
As for Gaddis’s second trip through Houston’s line? It wasn’t as much of a breeze as the first.
Mancini belted another homer, this one a Grand Slam, to ignite a five-run outburst that broke open the game. Mancini’s first-career slam gave the Astros a 6-1 lead and secured his 10th mult-homer game of his career.
“I was really excited. It was still a ton of fun. It’s not exactly how you would want it to go but you’ve just got to put the foot down and keep working,” Gaddis said.
The Guardians briefly made it interesting in the seventh inning. Framber Valdez was cruising before issuing a one-out walk to Owen Miller. Five-straight Guardians reached base, including an RBI single by Luke Maile and an RBI double by Myles Straw.
Straw’s double ended an 0-for-14 slump. With a walk to Will Benson, suddenly, Valdez’s night was done.
Seth Martinez came in and extinguished the fire, getting Amed Rosario to pop out and Owen Miller to strike out looking with the bases loaded.
Gaddis’s line in his MLB debut looked like this: 3.1IP, 7H, 8ER, 2BB 2K.
“This start will not define his career. There’s a lot to like,” Francona said.
NOTES— Steven Kwan was removed from the game for precautionary reasons in the fifth inning with a left foot contusion and replaced by Will Benson in right field.
Kwan fouled a ball off his foot and Francona, aware of Kwan’s 18-game hit streak, left it up to his right fielder to determine if he should rest it for the remainder of the night with the game already out of reach.
“He actually hit that same spot in batting practice. So when he hit it the second time, it was marking a little bit,” Francona said. “I thought the best change to have him available, and he agreed. He’s a pretty savvy kid.”
BAKER TESTS POSTIVE—Houston Manager Dusty Baker tested positive for COVID-19 before Friday night’s game and did not manage for the Astros.
Baker met with the media about two hours before the 7:10 p.m. game. The announcement of the positive test came after the game started.
Bench coach Joe Espada filled in for Baker.
“We didn’t find out until about the 5th inning. I knew Dusty wasn’t there,” Francona said. “He’s dear to everybody. He’s so much of what’s good in baseball, I hope it’s just that he feels like he has the flu or allergies and he’s back.”