Arizona Diamondbacks: Rookie pitcher makes history in debut

The Arizona Diamondbacks made a transaction prior to Saturday’s game against the Chicago Cubs in wake of a worn-out bullpen. The man they called up dazzled in what would turn out to be a historic debut.

If one thing is clear this season for the Arizona Diamondbacks, the future pitching staff looks bright.

On Saturday, Taylor Clarke, their No. 10 prospect, was called upon to be an extra bullpen arm after excessive use of arms over their past few games.

Clarke turned out to be the only bullpen arm used in the game, and it was memorable.

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He toed the rubber to start the bottom of the seventh inning. As is tradition, the ball is kept as a souvenir whenever an accomplishment is made like your first strikeout. Clarke had such an impressive debut that he ended the day with four souvenir baseballs.

After he recorded his first out, the ball went to the dugout.

The next batter was his first strikeout so the ball went to the dugout.

In the top of the eighth inning, Clarke stepped to the plate and hit a hard grounder off of the pitcher that ricocheted far enough away for Clarke to reach; his first hit.

Finally, because he was the last pitcher of the game, he recorded the three-inning save which all-together gives him four souvenirs:

This performance came just weeks after the performance of Arizona’s top prospect Jon Duplantier; when he also recorded his first out, strikeout and three-inning save in his debut against the Padres. He has since been sent down.

Though fate may be the same for Clarke, he made history that may never be matched again in quite a long time.

Clarke is the first pitcher to record his first major league save and hit in the same appearance since the save became an official statistic in 1969.

Not even Mariano Rivera can claim such a feat.

Though he may not remain on the roster for much longer, Clarke (and Duplantier for that matter) show a positive upswing for the Arizona Diamondbacks’ future pitchers. I guess all they can hope for right now is more bullpen taxed days in order to get more big league appearances.