Louis Cardinals outfielder Joshua Báez had arguably the best debut in baseball history on Saturday afternoon at Wrigley Field. He went 3 for 4 with three home runs, all in his first three at-bats, including a monster 449-foot blast to center field on the very first pitch he saw as a big leaguer. You only get one debut, and I'm not sure anyone has done it better than Báez.
But where does he fit historically? Listed chronologically, here are 10 of the most impressive MLB debuts after Báez's historic performance. Line: 9 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 3 K vs.
Pirates Jones is the only pitcher in baseball history to throw a no-hitter in his MLB debut. He did walk four and allow an unearned run, but zero hits, and that's all that matters. Despite that impressive debut, Jones did not have a long career.
He spent only two years in the big leagues and finished with a 7.99 ERA in 41 ⅔ innings with the Reds and New York Giants. Line: 4 for 4, 2B, 2 3B, 2 RBI vs. Phillies Fewer players have hit two triples in their MLB debut (four) than have hit two home runs in their MLB debut (eight).
McCovey was the third of the four to do it, joining Bill Irwin (1912), Roy Weatherly (1936), and John Sipin (1969). Although he didn't debut until his team's 101st game of the season, McCovey went on to win Rookie of the Year that season thanks to a .354/.429/.656 line in 52 games. Line: 9 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 12 K vs.
Phillies Marichal was four outs away from becoming the second pitcher to throw a no-hitter in his MLB debut. Clay Dalrymple broke up the no-hit bid with two outs in the seventh, then Marichal recovered and retired the next four batters to complete the one-hit masterpiece. That was the first of the Hall of Famer's 457 career starts.
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