Book Excerpt: Major League Debuts: 2023 Edition
2 Dodgers, 2 ex-Dodgers and 2 non-Dodgers.
Over 300 players made their major league debuts in 2022, some in spectacular fashion, others not so much. Some prospects traded for difference makers during the summer work out for the acquiring club, others not so much. With number 21 in our book excerpt series — “Major League Debuts: 2023 Edition,” by James Bailey (2023, $7.99 Kindle, $17.95 Paperback) — in your collection, you can read about them all. And I suggest you do so.
Since the sections for each players are short, about a page each in length, as opposed to the full chapter usually featured in this series, I have chosen six rookie performers to highlight here; two Dodgers, two ex-Dodgers and two non-Dodgers.
In case you don’t recall, Ryalan Bannon went from Los Angeles to Baltimore in the 2018 Manny Machado trade. And Jeter Downs was in the L.A. package which brought Mookie Betts from Boston in 2020.
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Player 1: Rylan Bannon, 3B, Orioles
B-T: R-R HT: 5-8 WT: 180 Born: Apr. 22, 1996, Joliet, Ill. Debut Age: 26
Debut: May 12. With infielders Ryan Mountcastle and Ramon Urias sidelined, the Orioles brought Bannon in from Triple-A Norfolk and threw him straight into the lineup. Any nerves he had suiting up disappeared in the bottom of the first when he dove toward the line to snare a hot grounder from Nolan Arenado, getting up in time to throw out his counterpart with the Cardinals. An inning later, on the very first pitch he saw as a big leaguer, he knocked a hot groundball of his own through the hole between short and third for a base hit. He finished the day 1-for-4 as Baltimore edged St. Louis 3-2.
Background: Bannon attended Joliet Catholic HS, helping the Hilltoppers to the Illinois state championship as a junior in 2013. As a sophomore at Xavier University, he gelled down the stretch, going 6-for-17 in NCAA Tournament play, with a grand slam in the Musketeers’ 15-1 demolition of Vanderbilt. The Big East Player of the Year as a junior after hitting .339/.449/.634, he went to the Dodgers in the eighth round of the 2017 draft. He immediately showed off his power potential, launching 10 homers in 40 games for Rookie-level Ogden. The Dodgers bumped him to High-A Rancho Cucamonga the following spring, and he was leading the circuit with 20 long balls at the time he was sent to Baltimore as part of the five-man package for Manny Machado. The Orioles placed him at Double-A Bowie after the deal, and Bannon struggled initially, going 6-for-60 over his first 20 games. He adapted to the Eastern League much better the following season, when he hit .255/.345/.394 in 110 games before moving on to Norfolk to finish out the campaign. The O’s sent him to the Arizona Fall League afterward, and he hit just .200/.258/.247 in 93 plate appearances. Bannon scuffled badly after the lost COVID year, finishing the season with an uncharacteristic .177 average and just 15 homers at Norfolk in 2021. Those stats mask a monster hot streak in August, however, in which he belted 10 home runs in 10 games after rediscovering his stroke by referencing video taken at the alternate site the summer before.
2022 Season: Bannon left a strong impression after going 5-for-13 with a double and a homer in nine Grapefruit League games. He opened the season at Norfolk on a tear, hitting .353/.441/.510 before quitting hits cold turkey with an eight-game 0-fer streak. He was hitting .235/.361/.382 at the time of his promotion. After collecting just two hits in 14 at-bats, he found himself back in Norfolk, where he never truly got untracked. He was slashing .229/.347/.407 in early August when the Orioles tried to slip him through waivers to clear a spot on the 40-man roster. Suddenly, he was a Dodger again. While Los Angeles claimed him, he never suited up for any of their clubs before he was once again on the move, this time being claimed by the Braves. Assigned to Triple-A Gwinnett, the streaky Bannon enjoyed a 4-for-5 effort at Lehigh Valley on Aug. 26, homering, doubling, and driving in eight runs. He hit .328/.447/.478 for the Stripers, and earned another big-league look in late September. But he would only see the field once with the Braves, as a defensive replacement.
Outlook: The power and the eye have him on the cusp, but Bannon is most likely in for another extended run in Triple-A. He was claimed twice more off waivers over the offseason, first by the Cubs in November, then by the Astros in December. His tool set is clearly enticing, particularly with the ability to cover both third and second.
Player 2: Jeter Downs, 2B, Red Sox
B-T: R-R HT: 5-11 WT: 195 Born: July 27, 1998, San Andres, Colombia
Debut Age: 23
Debut: June 22. With Enrique Hernandez on the injured list and Christian Arroyo unavailable due to COVID, Boston called on Downs to fill in. A shortstop and second baseman by trade, he was pressed into duty at third base when the Red Sox rested starter Rafael Devers. Though he had never previously appeared at the hot corner as a professional, Downs handled both of his chances without a hitch. Batting ninth, he came to the plate for the first time in the bottom of the third with runners at the corners and no outs. He fell behind Tigers starter Tarik Skubal and swung under a 96-mph fastball. The lefthander got him again the following inning, on a changeup on the outer half. Downs caught hold of a Joe Jimenez fastball in the sixth, sending it to the warning track where it was caught by left fielder Robbie Grossman. In his final at-bat in the bottom of the eighth, Downs chased a Jason Foley slider for his third strikeout of the game. He finished 0-for-4 as the Sox topped the Tigers 6-2.
Background: Born in Colombia, Downs really was named for Derek Jeter. From the time he was old enough to swing a bat, his father tossed him BP. The decision to move to the United States was made knowing that Jeter and his brother, Jerry Jr., would have an easier path to professional ball if it started in Florida. The senior Downs, who had played professionally in Colombia and been frustrated by the lack of opportunity, was right. Jeter Downs enjoyed a storied career at Monsignor Edward Pace HS in Miami Gardens, leading his side to the state championship game as a junior in 2016, and earning a place on the Miami Herald’s All-Dade first team in 2017 after hitting .422 with 12 homers and 35 RBIs. After originally committing to the University of Central Florida, Downs switched his allegiance to Miami. But when the Reds snagged him in the supplemental first round of the 2017 draft, he passed up college and signed for $1,822,500. He thrived his first summer in pro ball, hitting .267/.370/.424 for Rookie-level Billings. He turned in another impressive campaign in 2018, as a 19-year-old facing older competition in the Low-A Midwest League. That winter, he was shipped to the Dodgers, along with pitchers Homer Bailey and Josiah Gray, in a deal that sent outfielders Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp, shortstop Kyle Farmer, and lefthander Alex Wood to Cincinnati. Downs upped his game a notch in his first year in the Dodgers system, knocking a combined 63 extra-base hits between High-A Rancho Cucamonga and Double-A Tulsa. When the Dodgers and Red Sox discussed a potential Mookie Betts deal, his name came up. He wound up moving to Boston along with outfielder Alex Verdugo and catcher Connor Wong for Betts and lefthander David Price. Despite the COVID shutdown, he impressed the Red Sox that first summer at the club’s alternate site and was regarded as one of the top talents in the system. And then 2021 happened. In 99 games at Triple-A Worcester, he hit just .191/.272/.333. Worse than the stat line was his approach. Boston sent him to the Arizona Fall League for a reset, and he was able to wash the bitter taste out of his mouth with a .228/.389/.491 showing in 72 plate appearances for Scottsdale.
2022 Season: The Sox sent Downs back to Worcester for a second crack at the International League. It started off okay. Through the first month, he was batting .247/.360/.518 with six home runs. And then the hits dried up. At the time of his first promotion to Boston, he was batting .180/.297/.397. He caught a hot streak at the tail end of the first half, homering five times in nine games, including three straight. Suddenly, he was back in the big leagues. With Arroyo sidelined by a groin issue, Boston needed an infielder. Downs wasn’t just there to make up the numbers. He was in the starting lineup. He appeared in 13 games in July, collecting 35 at-bats. He connected for his first home run against the Yankees, driving in Boston’s only two runs on the day in a 13-2 loss. But by the end of the month, with his average at .154, he was shipped back to Triple-A. An ankle injury ended his season in mid-August.
Outlook: The tools are right there in plain sight. This is a fellow with nice power for a middle infielder, a player who has stolen 105 bases in five minor league seasons. Yet Downs has hit just .193 in 641 Triple-A at-bats. It doesn’t add up to a top prospect anymore. The Red Sox designated him for assignment in December, and he was claimed off waivers by the Nationals.
James Outman, OF, Dodgers
B-T: L-R HT: 6-3 WT: 215 Born: May 14, 1997, Redwood City, Calif.
Debut Age: 25
Debut: July 31. Outman got his chance when utilityman Zach McKinstry was traded to the Cubs for reliever Chris Martin at the end of July. With Mookie Betts starting at second base for the series finale at Colorado, Outman got a look in right field as the No. 9 hitter in the order. He made it count. Facing German Marquez in the top of the third with Cody Bellinger on first base, Outman lofted a 95-mph fastball into the Rockies bullpen 405 feet away, becoming only the eighth player in franchise history to go yard in his first big-league plate appearance. He wasn’t done, however. Outman led off the seventh with a single to right that was clocked at 109.5 mph off the bat—harder than his home run. He capped his debut with an RBI double an inning later, and finished the afternoon 3-for-4 with two runs and three RBIs as the Dodgers topped the Rockies 7-3.
Background: A catcher at Junipero Serra HS, Outman also starred on the gridiron at middle linebacker and tight end. He focused on baseball at Sacramento State, shifting to right field as a sophomore due to a backlog behind the plate. In the summer of 2017, Outman led Bethesda to the title in the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League, topping the circuit in home runs (9) and tying for tops in RBIs (36). His junior season at Sac State was nearly a carbon copy of his sophomore campaign, as he hit .253 with 11 home runs in 229 at-bats both years. The Dodgers, admiring his athleticism if not his consistency, took him in the seventh round in 2018 and signed him for $157,500. Outman started slowly at Rookie-level Ogden, hitting just .196 through the end of July as he worked to make his swing more efficient and allow him to better handle velocity. He finished with a bang, hitting .344/.418/.583 in August and September. Though he hit just .225 at Low-A Great Lakes in 2019, he missed a 20/20 season by a single home run. Eleven of his long balls came in August, when he homered on consecutive days on three separate occasions. Invited to big-league camp in 2021, Outman planted a seed in many minds with a productive Cactus League showing. He started the year at Great Lakes, now the organization’s High-A affiliate, and hit nine home runs in 65 games to establish a new Loons career mark with 28. Again, they came in bunches, as he hit six over his final 16 contests before a July promotion to Double-A Tulsa. He added nine more there, giving him 18 on the year to go with 23 stolen bases, as Outman regularly found multiple ways to beat teams. The Dodgers sent him to the Arizona Fall League after the season. He posted a .974 OPS in 21 games for Glendale and earned a spot in the Fall Stars Game. He was added to the club’s 40-man roster in November.
2022 Season: Outman again impressed in Cactus League play during his short time with the big leaguers, but was shipped off to minor league camp in the first wave of cuts. The Dodgers sent him back to Tulsa to open the year, and he hit .295/.394/.552 over the first three months, earning a move to Triple-A Oklahoma City on June 29. He collected 24 RBIs in his first 22 games there, including five in a game at Tacoma and six in a contest against Sacramento. Still, no one quite expected his outburst in his debut. He got three more games with the Dodgers to showcase himself, going 3-for-9 against the Giants to put him at 6-for-13 overall. But with Chris Taylor returning from the injured list, even a .462 average couldn’t prevent Outman from a return to OKC. He didn’t waste any time moping, instead crushing a home run in his first game back. Outman also hit for the cycle twice within four days at the end of August, going 5-for-5 with a spare triple against El Paso in the first one. He hit 15 Triple-A home runs, giving him 31 between Tulsa and Oklahoma City combined, to go along with 106 RBIs and a .978 OPS.
Outlook: Outman is an exciting, athletic option who brings a good glove in addition to the power/speed combo he offers offensively. There will be strikeouts, but he’ll draw his share of walks as well. The question is when he’ll see a legit opportunity on a roster stocked with veteran stars.
Ryan Pepiot, RHP, Dodgers
B-T: R-R HT: 6-3 WT: 215 Born: Aug. 21, 1997, Indianapolis, Ind.
Debut Age: 24
Debut: May 11. With the Dodgers anticipating a need for a spot starter, Pepiot traveled with the club to Pittsburgh as a member of the taxi squad, just in case. The highly regarded righthander showed off both his outstanding stuff and the scattershot control that had often undermined it during his ascent through the system. Pepiot struck out Pirate leadoff man Ben Gamel with his nasty signature changeup to open the game. A walk and a single put runners on first and second, but he escaped when Michael Chavis lined to second. Pepiot found even hotter water in the second after loading the bases on a pair of walks and a hit by pitch. Again, he wriggled free. He authored two more walks and a wild pitch in the third, and somehow another scoreless frame. But with his pitch count at 77, that marked the end of his day. Pepiot struck out three in his three shutout innings, and took away some positives despite walking five and missing the zone with nearly half of his offerings.
Background: Pepiot was a highly regarded quarterback at Westfield HS in Indiana, but committed to Butler for baseball, feeling it was a better fit for his future. He jumped straight into the Butler rotation, making 13 starts as a freshman in 2017. After going 6-0 with 101 punchouts in 75.2 innings his sophomore season, he spent the summer pitching out of the bullpen for Hyannis in the Cape Cod League, striking out 33 in 22 innings. Pepiot established a new school record with 126 strikeouts as a junior, also moving to the top of the Butler career list with 306. While he held opponents to a .209 average over his three seasons, he also uncorked 29 wild pitches and plunked 30 batters, including 15 in his final spring. He owned a lively fastball and one of the top-rated changeups of any pitcher available in the 2019 draft class. The Dodgers called his name in the third round, making him the highest draft pick in school history. He signed for $547,500 and spent most of his first summer at Low-A Great Lakes, making nine short starts. Despite the cancellation of the 2020 season, Pepiot saw his stock climb at the Dodgers alternate site, where he had a chance to develop alongside more experienced minor leaguers and even face several rehabbing major leaguers. Assigned to Double-A Tulsa to start the 2021 season, Pepiot was simply unhittable at times. In seven of his 15 outings he allowed no more than a single hit. He tossed five no-hit innings against Wichita on June 12, and seven perfect frames, with 11 strikeouts, against Arkansas July 4. Brought back out for the eighth, he walked the leadoff hitter on eight pitches and came out of the contest having exceeded his pitch count. The Dodgers bumped him to Triple-A Oklahoma City in August, and suddenly he couldn’t get anyone out. After holding Double-A hitters to a .149 average, he was battered at a .305 clip in Triple-A, while serving up 12 home runs in 41.2 innings.
2022 Season: Not on the 40-man roster, Pepiot reported to minor league camp when it opened, then shifted over to hang with the big leaguers once the lockout ended. He wasn’t particularly sharp in three Cactus League outings, but was always ticketed for a return to Oklahoma City. He enjoyed a much better experience there the second time around. Pepiot went 2-0 with a 1.66 ERA over his first five starts, striking out 29 in 21.2 innings, and was named Pitcher of the Month by the Pacific Coast League. At the time of his promotion, he was holding opponents to a .189 average. Though he was technically optioned after his debut, he started again six days later in the first game of a doubleheader against the Diamondbacks, and again one more time before the end of May, also against Arizona. His longest outing among the three was 4.1 innings, but it took him 84 pitches to get that far. The Dodgers let him settle back down in Oklahoma City for the entire month of June before summoning him a fourth time. He picked up his first win against the Rockies on July 5, finally surviving a full five frames. Over the course of the season he was up and down seven times. After an August loss to the Brewers, in which Pepiot walked five and served up two home runs, Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts noted that while Pepiot’s slider had come on, his changeup—long regarded as his best pitch—had taken a step back, as it too often was clearly a ball from the time it left his hand and batters weren’t fooled by it. In his next start, perhaps not coincidentally his longest of the season, he threw just 12 changeups out of 97 pitches. Despite his challenges in Los Angeles, Pepiot pitched well in Triple-A, never seeming to let the back-and-forth throw him off his game at that level.
Outlook: The raw materials are there. Both Pepiot and the Dodgers are well aware of what he must do to get where he wants to be. If the command improves and the change rebounds, he should fill a rotation spot nicely. If not, he’s in for more time on the shuttle.
George Kirby, RHP, Mariners
B-T: R-R HT: 6-4 WT: 215 Born: Feb. 4, 1998, Rye, N.Y.
Debut Age: 24
Debut: May 8. Having dropped six straight games, and 10 of their last 11, the Mariners handed the ball to a youngster with only 30 minor league appearances under his belt to break the streak. Kirby was up to the task. In front of a Mother’s Day crowd of 32,501, the righthander stymied the visiting Rays, striking out three of the first four men he faced, all swinging, capping the first with a 98-mph fastball past cleanup hitter Ji-Man Choi. Kirby attacked hitters all day, mixing his slider, changeup, and curve in with a lively fastball, inducing 14 swinging misses by Tampa hitters. The Rays advanced only one batter as far as second base as Kirby worked around four singles over six innings. He struck out seven and walked no one. The only thing he couldn’t provide for himself was run support. He left the game with a 0-0 line on the scoreboard. The Mariners eventually triumphed 2-1 in 10 innings, halting their skid.
Background: Scouts flocked to watch Kirby work in his final season at Rye HS in Westchester County, N.Y., drawn by his easy delivery and projectable frame. But having committed to Elon University as a sophomore, he wouldn’t be easily convinced to sign, especially if picked in the 10th round where many estimated he’d go. When he slid to the 32nd round of the 2016 draft, he chose school over the Mets and continued his development at Elon, showing an uncanny ability to hit both corners at will with his fastball. Kirby walked just six hitters his junior season, while striking out 107 in 88.1 innings, leading the nation in K/BB ratio. The Mariners spent the 20th pick in the first round of the 2019 draft on him and signed him for $3.24 million. Proving his results at Elon were no fluke, he struck out 25 and walked none in 23 innings his first summer at Short-A Everett. Working at the Mariners alternate site in 2020, he added strength to his frame and velocity to his pitches, ratcheting his fastball up to touch 99 mph while maintaining his exceptional control. He continued to work on his body throughout the offseason and reported to spring training in 2021 with even more velocity, topping 100 at times. He returned to Everett, now the club’s High-A affiliate, pitching on a conservative, weekly schedule. Slowed by a bout of shoulder fatigue, he made just nine starts over the season’s first three months. In August, the Mariners moved him to Double-A Arkansas, where he logged six more starts. Between the two stops he struck out 80 and walked just 15 in 67.2 innings, all while serving up only a single home run.
2022 Season: Edged out of the fifth starter’s competition in spring training by righthander Matt Brash, Kirby didn’t have to wait long in Arkansas for his turn. After posting a 1.82 ERA and 0.892 WHIP in five starts, he was called up to take Brash’s spot in the rotation. Following his phenomenal debut, there were growing pains. But the one constant was his control. He set a major league record in August by throwing 24 straight strikes to open a game against the Nationals, and didn’t allow more than one walk in a game until September. He did, however, serve up home runs, something he hadn’t done on the way up. Over his first 10 starts, Kirby allowed a dozen homers, including four in a seven-run stinker against the Orioles in late June in which he was victimized back-toback in both the third and fourth innings. And then, the home runs stopped. He wouldn’t allow another gopher ball until his final start of the regular season in October. Kirby stepped up big in the postseason, tossing a scoreless inning to earn the save in Seattle’s come-from-behind 10-9 win over Toronto in the Wild Card round, and shutting down the Astros for the first seven frames of the epic 18-inning, heartbreaking, 1-0 loss in the AL Division Series.
Outlook: Kirby is well on his way to becoming the ace of the Mariners staff. The next big challenge for him is to solve righthanded batters, who slashed .324/.354/.492 against
Gunnar Henderson, SS/3B, Orioles
B-T: L-R HT: 6-2 WT: 210 Born: June 29, 2001, Montgomery, Ala.
Debut Age: 21 Debut: August 31.
One of the top prospects in the minor leagues at the time of his promotion, Henderson got the start at third base as the sixth hitter in the Oriole lineup. He put on quite a show against the Guardians, helping Baltimore to a 4-0 victory. His first at-bat wound up on the Cleveland highlight reel when he sliced a long foul ball down the line that Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan tracked down in the corner before doubling Ryan Mountcastle off of first base. But it was all Henderson in the fourth, when he led off the top half by sending a 2-2 slider from Triston McKenzie 429 feet to rightcenter. Henderson swung so hard his helmet popped off, and he ran around the bases with his golden locks flowing for all to see. After grounding back to pitcher Nick Sandlin in the sixth, he capped his night by winning a seven-pitch battle with Bryan Shaw, ripping a 3-2 cutter into right field for a single. He finished the night 2-for-4, becoming only the fourth Oriole to homer in their big-league debut.
Background: Henderson committed to Auburn as a sophomore at the Morgan Adademy in Selma, Ala. He was named the Gatorade Player of the Year for Alabama as a senior, and signed for $2.3 million after the Orioles selected him in the second round of the 2019 draft. The 6-foot-3, 195-pound infielder began his career with a modest .259/.331/.370 showing in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League, with all 21 of his starts coming at shortstop, his prep position. The Orioles challenged Henderson at their alternate training site in 2020, where at 19 he was the youngest player present. The exposure to big-league arms and more advanced minor league pitchers helped prepare him for his 2021 season-opening assignment at Low-A Delmarva. After just 31 games there, he was pushed to High-A Aberdeen. He began his tenure there by going 0-for-20, though he did draw 11 walks. A three-hit game against Greenville in early July sparked him to life, and he hit .259 from that point forward. He finished the year at Double-A Bowie, arriving just in time to play in the Northeast League playoffs against Akron. He split his time at all three stops between shortstop and third base.
2022 Season: Back at Bowie, Henderson reeled off a 29-game on-base streak to open the season. His slash line stood at .312/.452/.573 when the Orioles moved him up to Norfolk in June. Henderson opened his Triple-A account by slamming the second pitch he saw into the stands in right-center. He hit for the cycle on June 28 in an 8-2 win over Gwinnett. He started at third and led off for the American League in the Futures Game, drawing a walk and scoring twice. Baseball America featured him on the cover of their August issue and rated him as the No. 4 prospect still in the minor leagues. By the end of the month, he was in Baltimore. Henderson nabbed hits in his first four games and seven of his first eight. His average climbed to .345 in mid-September on the heels of four straight two-hit games. He tailed off over the final three weeks of the season, the longest of his short career by far. The lefty swinger hit just 3-for-23 against southpaws, with most of his damage coming against righthanders.
Outlook: Henderson saw most of his big-league time at third base, though whether his future lies at third or short may depend upon the makeup of the lineup around him. He will certainly hit enough to start at either spot. YR LG TEAM AVG G PA AB R H 2B 3B H
About the author
James Bailey is a former associate editor at Baseball America who has written about baseball for Ultimate Sports Publishing and Lindy’s Sports. He has also written five novels, including The Greatest Show on Dirt, set in old Durham Athletic Park, where he worked for three years half a lifetime ago.