Baseball in Fort Wayne

Posts Tagged ‘Debuts’

Wilton Lopez became the 84th former Fort Wayne Wizard/TinCap to ascend to the Big Leagues on August 29th when he entered the game slated for long relief of starter Yorman Bazardo in the third inning for the Houston Astros. 

Probably a day he’ll always remember, but one that he may want to forget. He entered his first Major League appearance with an inherited runner on second and no outs. The Diamondback’s Brandon Allen singled, moving the runner to third before Alex Romero hit a three-run homer. Lopez also yielded a solo shot to Miguel Montero and rookie John Hester, which was his first Major League hit.

Overall, Lopez was tagged for six runs on eight hits, giving up three homers in four innings of work.

“I thought the kid did pretty well, considering the circumstances,” [Astro's manager Cecil] Cooper said. “It was a tough situation to put him in, but I didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. He has a chance to be pretty good in the Major Leagues.”

Lopez is the eighth former Wizard/TinCap to debut in the MLB this year. He is the first from the 2007 squad.

Wow. This has got to be up there in terms of the strangest of MLB debut scenarios for former Fort Wayne Wizards. Catcher, Jose Lobaton was called up from Triple-A Portland due to Henry Blano being inured. For those following at home, the Padres primary catcher is former WizardJose Lobaton, who is also on the DL. Lobaton’s debut comes one year and one day after Hundley’s.

But here’s where it gets strange. Having played the catcher position throughout his entire eight season minor league career, Lobaton entered the game at second base, having lost David Eckstein due to injure in the twelfth inning. The play involving Eckstein ended the bottom of the twefth, so Lobaton entered at second in the top of the thirteenth. Los Angeles would score in that inning. Former Wizard Kyle Blanks struck out to make the third out in the bottom of the inning and Lobaton therefore did not get an at-bat.

With the Wizards in 2006, Lobaton hit .279 with 17 hits in 61 at bats. Over 20 games, he collected three doubles, one homer and 11 runs batted in. He also drew 12 bases on balls. He’s got a great arm, handles the staff well and tends to hit in streaks (ending his Wizards run with an eight game hitting streak). He also appeared in 9 games with the Wizards the year before.

Lobaton is the 82nd former Wizards to make his MLB debut and hte sixth this season. In case you are wondering, we are one ahead of last year’s record-setting pace.

Former Wizards first baseman and designated hitter, Kyle Blanks because the fifth former Wizard on the season to make his Major League debut last night. He is the the eighty-first overall.

Blanks entered the game in the bottom of the ninth as a pinch hitter for another former Wizard, Mike Ekstrom. Blanks struck out looking.

According to Baseball America:

Baseball America has learned the Padres have promoted their No. 1 prospect, first baseman/left fielder Kyle Blanks, to the big leagues. A corresponding move regarding the 40-man roster was not yet announced.

Blanks, 22, was hitting .283/.393/.485 at Triple-A Portland in the Pacific Coast League, with 12 home runs, nine doubles and 38 RBIs. The 6-foot-6, 285-pounder has shifted in part to left field this season, playing parts of 15 games in left while still primarily playing first base.

From MLB.com:

Blanks, a first baseman and outfielder with Triple-A Portland, is expected to have his contract purchased by the Padres on Friday when he will be added to the 40-man roster.

The left-handed-heavy Padres open a three-game series against the Oakland A’s on Friday and will be facing three lefty starting pitchers in the series. The Padres are hitting .215 as a team against left-handers this season.

Blanks, the Padres 2008 Minor League Player of the Year and Texas League Player of the Year, is a right-handed hitter and was hitting .283 with 12 home runs and 38 RBIs for Portland.

More Blog Chatter:

• The Callup: Kyle Blanks (FantasyBaseball365)
• Matsui, Ortiz expected to lose at-bats (ESPN)
• Hot Prospect: Kyle Blanks (Advanced Fantasy Baseball)

Related BBIFW Posts:

• Lots of Former Wizards in Camp
• Wizards Watch: Former Wizards Contribute to 30-0 Rout
• Goldstein Discusses Futures of Former Wizards
• Plenty of Wizards in MadFriars’s Top 20
• Kyle Blanks the Hottest Prospect in Baseball
• Baseball America’s Top Padres Prospects
• Padres Non Roster Invitees
• Former Wizards Likely to Debut in 2009 – Part II
• Former Wizards I’m Watching Heading into 2009
• Fill the Triple-A All-Star Game with Wizards

Former Wizard, David Freese made his Major League debut with the St. Louis Cardinals against the Pittsburgh Pirates this afternoon. In the top of the seventh inning, he entered the game as a replacement for Trevor Miller, batting ninth and playing third base. In the bottom half of the inning, he grounded out to Pitsburgh’s third baseman, Andy LeRouche.

The next inning, he hit a sacrifice fly to to the Pirates Right Fielder, Brandon Moss, driving in Joe Thurston to earn his first Major League RBI.

Freese becomes the 77th former Fort Wayne Wizard to debut in Major League Baseball and the first of the young 2009 season. Freese was originally drafted in the ninth round of the 2006 amateur entry draft by San Diego with the 273rd overall pick. He went right to work, hitting .379 with five home runs and 26 runs batted in over 58 at-bats at Eugene before joining the Wizards 53 games in 2006. During that stint, Freese hit .299 with eight home runs and 43 runs batted in and drawing 21 walks in 204 at-bats.

He ended up with the Cardinals organization as part of the trade for the sent Jim Edmonds to the padres prior to the 2008 season.

Last night, Wade LeBlanc made his Major League Debut. He’s the 12th former Wizard to do so, which breaks the record of 11 that was set in 2002. The debut makes him the 74th former Wizard to hit the big leauges.

And for the first two innings, he was perfect. Then, he gave up five runs on eight hits and two walks over the next two innings before being taken out. And, as you would expect, the Padres didn’t offer much offensive support, so LeBlanc took the loss.

Angel Berroa hit a leadoff double in the third inning and later scored to put the Dodgers on teh board. After the Padres made it 3-1 in the fourth inning, Blake DeWitt took a high fastball out of the park to tie the score at three. Then, Berroa did damage again by hitting a solo shot that put the Dodgers on top again.

“Wade couldn’t seem to get any rhythm with his pitches,” said manager Bud Black. “The command was off. He ran some deep counts. He couldn’t seem to find the feel for his change-up. The Dodgers put some good at-bats against him. He just couldn’t really get anything going to get any sort of momentum. One hundred pitches in four innings, to say the least, is a little steep” [SignonSanDiego.com].

Wade LeBlanc was drafted in the second round (36th overall) of the 2006 draft. He joined the Wizards that year and saw action in seven starts. He posted a 4-1 record with a 2.20 ERA. In 32.2 innings pitched, he struck out 27 and walked ten. This season with Triple-A Portland, LeBlanc has rebounded from early season struggles and now boasts an 11-9 record with a  5.32 ER, 139 strikeouts and 42 walks over 138.2 innings pitched. He was named the Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the week for the span inclusive of July 28-Aug. 3. He was 2-0 and allowed just four hits and no walks over 13.0 scoreless innings. He tallied 17 strikeouts over the combined two starts during that week.