Donavan Tate FINALLY Debuts!

It’s pretty shocking that this year’s second-round pick, infielder Jedd Gyorko, wound up debuting before last year’s first-rounder, outfielder Donavan Tate.

Yeah, Tate. Remember him? The Padres, of course, picked the athletic high schooler third overall last year and signed him for a ton of money. They then watch as injuries pushed his debut out of 2009 and into 2010, from April 2010 to May 2010, then to June 2010.

Initially expected to break camp with Fort Wayne, Tate ultimately finally surfaced in a box score yesterday, with the Rookie League AZL Padres.

It was AZL Opening Day, as the Rookie level leagues are always the last to begin play. Tate batted third in his debut and went…0-for-5 with two strikeouts.

Tate struck out two more times in tonight’s ballgame, but in his other two at-bats, he ripped singles, and he stole a base in the game.

Given Tate’s rawness to begin with, and then a bunch of injuries as well, it’ll be tough to take too much out of his 2010 performance at this point. The key is that he stays healthy, doesn’t embarrass himself on or off the field, and continues to develop and listen to his coaches. He’s 19, after all, so there’s plenty of time, even if his debut is about 10 months later than expected.

Good to see Tate on the field in a real pro game.