Pitching Debuts
How does Paul Skenes match up to how other famous pitchers started?
Pitching Debuts
You’d have to have been living under a rock if you haven’t heard about Paul Skenes and his impressive first two games.
It got me thinking about what the debuts were like for a few other famous pitchers.
Here are a few of note:
Christy Mathewson
Mathewson was anything but “Big Six” when he started out.
Actually, though, if you spend time in the 1900 New York newspapers, you’ll discover that most of the sports commentators could see Mathewson’s impressive talent. Giving up 6 runs against Brooklyn wasn’t the best start in the world, but he clearly had potential.
It wasn’t until his first start in 1901 that he became a household name:
Walter Johnson
Walter Johnson’s first start in 1907 was anything but auspicious.
It’s kind of strange to read an article about a Walter Johnson start before he was well known.
Johnson’s first “good” start came against the Browns about a month later — and it seems like he got a bit too much of the plate:
Of course, the Senators were simply awful, and could afford to send the kid out there to try his best.
Bob Feller
Feller provides a good contrast. I’d actually say that Skenes is probably more a Feller type pitcher than anything else — except I’m pretty sure Skenes has better control than Feller did in 1936.
I don’t have access to any Cleveland newspapers yet, which is why this boxscore comes from Washington DC. I couldn’t find any mention of Feller in the sports section that day.
Of course, Feller’s first start was different:
That’s a bit more like Stephen Strasburg’s first start back in 2010 than what Skenes has done so far. And, of course, Feller had a bit more longevity than the injury plagued Strasburg did.
I guess it goes to show you in the end that you never know.