Mike Wright Dazzles In Major League Debut
May 19, 2015 | Baseball
CLEARWATER, Fla. - Sitting on a bus nearly 950 miles away from Camden Yards, home of the Baltimore Orioles, the East Carolina baseball team watched as former Pirate pitcher Mike Wright made his Major League debut Sunday afternoon against the Los Angles Angels.
Wright, who starred for the Purple and Gold from 2009-2011, was a third round selection out of East Carolina in 2011. He had spent four years working his way up the Orioles farm system making stops at every level. Wright had a 3-0 record with a 2.64 ERA (30.2 IP, 9 ERs) and 30 strikeouts over six starts with Triple-A Norfolk this season.
The right-hander had appeared in 91 games (87 starts) posting a 32-21 record with a 3.99 ERA over 477.2 innings. He allowed 246 runs (212 earned) while striking out 393.
A native of Laurinburg, N.C., Wright got the official call to the big league club on May 13, however didn't make his debut until Sunday, May 18 once Bud Norris and Chris Tillman were deemed unavailable due to injuries.
Wright toed the rubber setting the Angles down in order through the first three innings. He got leadoff hitter Kole Calhoun popped out to second to start the game, fanned 2014 MVP Mike Trout on a 98 MPH fastball and closed out the first when Albert Pujols flied out to right field. Wright didn't allow a baserunner to reach until Calhoun singled to leadoff the fourth.
"That was pretty exciting," Wright said after the game. "To have your first big league strikeout be Mike Trout is a pretty good thing to have."
He worked his way out of trouble in the fourth and retired nine out of the next 10 batters he faced before an eighth-inning single by Matt Joyce ended his day. Wright walked off to a standing ovation from the 41, 733 in attendance after tossing 7.1 scoreless frames with six strikeouts, no walks and scattered four hits en route to a 3-0 win.
Wright became the ninth Orioles pitcher to have a scoreless start in his Major League debut and the first since Chris Waters on Aug. 5, 2008. It's the first at Oriole Park since Anthony Telford did it on Aug. 19, 1990.
During his postgame interview with MLB Hall of Famer Jim Palmer on MASN, Wright was quick to give credit to current ECU Pitching Coach Dan Roszel for much of his success and staying focused from pitch to pitch. And once the team heard Roszel's name mentioned, it erupted with cheers as another Pirate had a successful Major League Debut.
Reactions To Wright's Debut Courtesy of the Baltimore Sun:
Orioles manager Buck Showalter: "His presentation was real confident. He's done some things the way it used to be done, where you make every stop [in the minors]. And you do things at a level [and] you're not wondering if you had done real well at the level you left. That's the blueprint of coming through [to the majors]."
Orioles center fielder Adam Jones: "I'm happy for him. He went out there and pitched. He went out there and threw strikes. That's the thing that he has. I told him after the game, `Trust your stuff.'"
Orioles catcher Caleb Joseph: "Really impressive. It's exciting for him. I've played with him in Double-A and Triple-A, and been able to be a part of somebody's debut and then an impressive debut at that. It was special. Very excited for him. I know he's got a lot of family here, and it's exciting for them, too. Any time you make your debut, it's just a real special time. But to do it against a really good lineup that they have and some big-name players is really great."
Angels first baseman Albert Pujols: "We didn't have too much video on him, but no excuse. Don't see much video on guys coming out of [the] 'pen, have to go with the scouting report. I think we took some good swings and he kept us off-balance all day."
Angels second baseman Johnny Giavotella: "He was basically just on top of the fastball and we couldn't square it up. He was coming at us. You have to tip your hat to him. He battled and really took it to us."
Portions of this story have come from The Baltimore Sun and MLB.com
