Yunesky Maya made his MLB debut for the Nationals on Tuesday night at Nationals Park. He faced Dillon Gee, who was also making his MLB debut for the Mets. That doesn't happen often. But the Nats Cuban, Maya, didn't look nearly as sharp as Gee. Not many would.
Dillon Gee spent most of his season in the Mets AAA affiliate in Buffalo, where he posted a 13-8 record and a fairly high 4.96 ERA. Not the kind of numbers you expect from a pitcher that carried a no-hitter into the 6th inning on Tuesday. But that's exactly what Gee did. It was finally broken up by none other than Willie Harris, who hit a home run to break it up in his first at-bat of the game. Gee ended the game with a 1.29 ERA after pitching 7 full innings.
For the Nats, Yunesky Maya didn't look sharp in his first two innings. His fastball looked stagnant, and every time the Mets made contact, they hit it hard. In the first inning, Maya gave up 2 singles and then a 3 run home run to Mets rookie 1B Ike Davis. In the 2nd inning, he gave up an RBI hit to the man of the game, Mets pitcher Dillon Gee. After that, Maya settled down. He located his breaking pitches for strikes, overcoming his less than stellar fastball. In his remaining 3 innings, Maya didn't give up a hit.
All in all, I'd say Maya's first MLB debut wasn't any less than what could be expected. He was pitching in a stadium he'd never thrown in before, in a country he's been in for barely a month. His breaking pitches looked solid, and he was able to adjust when the Mets figured him out. The rest of the season will show what Maya really has in terms of "stuff," but he's well on his way to showing that he can adjust when the going gets tough. And that's what being a major league starter is all about.
Not to mention that with only five previous starts under his belt, Maya is still in the equivilent of Spring Training.
ReplyDeleteThe inability to hit Gee was baffling. Chalk it up to the kid being pumped up for his first start and having absolutely his best stuff, I guess.