Baseball in Fort Wayne

Former Wizards Pitcher, Josh Geer made his Major League Debut tonight. He became the 71st Wizards player to reach the MLB level one night after another former Wizard, Will Venable became the 70th. Venable was also in tonight’s lineup, as was former Wizard Chase Headley.

Geer pitched 5 innings. He gave up two runs on five hits and walked three while striking out five. Thanks to some timely Friar’s offense, it was enough to garner his first MLB win.

“That’s special, to go out and win your first start,” said Padres catcher [and fellow former Wizard] Nick Hundley after the 9-4 win at Petco Park.

Geer, a 25-year-old promoted from Triple-A on Friday, escaped after the Rockies put runners on second base and third with none out in the first inning [source: SanDiegoOnline].

The right-hander was selected by the San Diego Padres in round three (98th overall) of the 2005 draft. He joined the Wizards for 5 games that year and collected a 1-1 record with a 4.25 ERA. He struck out 23 and walked nine in 29.2 innings pitched.

He spent about half of 2006 with the Wizards too. In 12 games, he went 6-2 with a 3.10 ERA while striking out 46 and walking 13 over 72.2 innings pitched. He also had one complete game.

After Fort Wayne, Geer quickly rose through the Padre’s ranks and had his best career year last season while at Double-A San Antonio where he went 16-6 with a 3.20 ERA. This year, he is 6-7 with a 4.08 ERA at Triple-A Portland.

Geer is the ninth Wizard to make his MLB debut this season. That number currently ranks second to 2002; which saw eleven former Wizards make their MLB debuts.