San Diego Padres: Eric Lauer Wasn’t The First To Do This

On Tuesday evening, San Diego Padres LHP Eric Lauer made his much anticipated MLB debut. He wasn’t the first Padre pitcher to make his MLB debut at Coors Field.

Leading up to his major league debut, Eric Lauer stared down a seemingly insurmountable number of obstacles. The San Diego Padres rookie was forced to wait through a nearly hour-long weather delay as rain, sleet, and snow continued to fall all night long.

Lauer worked through the unfavorable conditions and near frigid temperatures while pitching in the least friendly ballpark for pitchers in the league, Coors Field.

The 22-year-old lefty lasted just three innings, giving up six hits, seven runs (six earned), and four walks while striking out three.

He also earned his first career hit!

https://twitter.com/MLBPipeline/status/988974570555129856

Would fans have liked to have seen Lauer put up better numbers? Sure, but he gets a pass on this one. Eric Lauer is a very solid pitching prospect for the Padres, just ask John Sickels of MinorLeagueBall.com. He’s a pitcher who relies on hiding the ball well and placement of his pitches which is extremely hard to do in the conditions he faced.

Lauer became just the seventh opposing pitcher in Major League Baseball history to make his first career start at Coors Field. Friar faithful may be familiar with another name on that list, Anthony Bass.

Anthony Bass fared well in his debut at Coors Field.

On June 13th, 2011, Anthony Bass climbed the mound of Coors Field to make his major league debut. It would be the offense of Chase Headley that ultimately helped Bass in securing the win in his debut performance.

According to Baseball Reference, Bass recorded the highest game score (50) of all seven pitchers who made their major league debuts at Coors.

He lasted five innings, giving up five hits and just one earned run. However, Bass did give up the most amount of walks among the group (four) as the Rockies worked three stolen bases against him.

Bass is the only one of the group that did not give up a home run in his start. Of the five hits he gave up, four were singles and one was a double.

Here’s a complete breakdown of how each pitcher fared in their debuts, including Eric Lauer’s line from last night. As you can see, Lauer faced a very tough challenge and while the results weren’t what he wanted, he remained poised on the mound.

Next: Grading The Padres First Month Performance

Lauer will learn from the start and move on to the next one. Welcome to the big leagues, young man!