An MLB debut is very special for any player, especially one who gets to be the guy on the mound in the very first inning. For St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Mike Mayers, it might’ve started out special, but didn’t end that way.
On Sunday night, the St. Louis Cardinals sent rookie Mike Mayers to the mound to pitch in his first ever major league baseball game. The start, as actor Mike Myers in Austin Powers would say, was not “groovy baby!”
Mayers stayed in the game for just 1.1 innings, allowing nine runs on eight hits. To put it simply… Mike Mayers had what many are calling the worst debut in MLB history. He is the only pitcher to allow nine runs in under two innings in his debut.
The game never got off to a great start for Mayers. Chase Utley led off the game with a single, followed by a Corey Seager infield hit, and a Justin Turner walk. This set up the beginning of the end for Mayers. With a 2-2 count and Adrian Gonzalez batting, he left a pitch right over the middle of the plate that Gonzalez sent sailing over the center field wall.
Boom, 4-0 right off the bat. You felt really bad for the kid: he’s just 24 years old, he’s full of excitement, and his whole family is there. To make matters worse, ESPN felt it necessary to show his grandma’s look of horror after the grand slam on replay. I can’t imagine she was waiting with cookies in the family tunnel after the game.
Mike Mayers grandma reacting to Adrian Gonzalez hitting a grand slam for the Dodgers on the 4th batter of the game pic.twitter.com/8sW8n6f52q
— Ryan Walton (@RyanCPWalton) July 25, 2016
From there, things just didn’t get any better. Howie Kendrick followed the grand slam up with a double, then a Joc Pederson walk, and a Scott Kazmir two-run single (this is when you know it was going south quickly). He recorded just one more out in the second and then was pulled.
No one could have predicted that Mayers’ first outing would turn out like this. Between both AA and AAA this year he had a 2.62 ERA in 18 games, he struck out 86 batters and had a WHIP of 1.21. The 24-year-old later admitted that he had let the game get away from him in statement via USA Today.
“It’s the same game — 60 feet, 6 inches,” Mayers said. “I felt like I told myself that over and over but as far as when you get out there it’s a totally different ballgame. I felt like I kind of started to let my emotions get to me. The game kind of sped up after those first two hits.”
Immediately following the game, the Cardinals optioned him back to AAA Memphis. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts admitted after the game that he felt no sympathy for Mayers, and in Major League Baseball you just have to pile it on.
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Mayers will likely be called up again during the month of September, when the full 40-man roster joins the MLB club. But until then, he will have to live with his horrendous MLB stat line. One that sports just 1.1 innings pitched, a 60.75 ERA, and a .667 batting average against him.