When the Seattle Mariners came home from their six-game trip through Oakland and Anaheim, Calif., they brought rookie pitcher Steve Delabar with them – and he’d never laid eyes on Safeco Field until then.
“I was amazed at the size of it,” Delabar said Sunday. “This place is enormous.”
Against the Kansas City Royals in a one-run game, Delabar came out of the bullpen Sunday to make his major league debut, and he did it in style – a 1-2-3 ninth inning with two strikeouts.
“I wasn’t nervous until the phone rang in the bullpen and they called my name,” he said.
For those unfamiliar with his story, Delabar was a Class A pitcher with the San Diego Padres until two years ago, when he broke his elbow pitching. Doctors implanted all kinds of hardware in his right arm – he carries an X-ray of it on his cellphone – and wished him luck.
When 2011 began, Delabar hadn’t pitched again, and was a part-time substitute teacher in Kentucky, coaching the boys baseball team after hours, when a friend called a Mariners scout.
The scout set up a one-shot, indoors tryout. Delabar threw to his high school catcher – and hit 94 mph.
Not long after, Delabar was signed and began his career in Class A Clinton, then Class AA Jackson and, last month, Class AAA Tacoma. Successful at each stop, the Mariners kept moving him until he landed with Seattle last week.
“I hadn’t pitched in a week, so I was a little nervous about that. I took a lot of deep breaths out there,” Delabar said.
He threw 13 pitches, 11 of them strikes. That works wherever you pitch.
“Throwing the first pitch for a strike really helped,” he said.
There was irony to his appearance. His parents and wife had taken a flight to Seattle in hopes of seeing him pitch, but they couldn’t stay the whole weekend.
“They all flew home last night,” Delabar said. “There’s always the MLB Network.”
SHORT HOPS
Just in time to welcome the fabled New York Yankees, right fielder Ichiro Suzuki is three hits shy of Mickey Mantle (2,415) on the all-time hits list. … Rookie Michael Pineda is averaging 9.22 strikeouts per nine innings this season, second among American League starting pitchers. Who leads? Former Mariners first-round pick Brandon Morrow (10.41). … Brendan Ryan’s first-inning steal was his 12th of the season in his 15th attempt. … In the four-game series, the Mariners struck out 51 times. … When Seattle was held to one run Sunday, it marked the 39th time this season they had scored one run or none in a game. … Since returning from the disabled list, Justin Smoak is batting .333 in 39 at-bats, with two home runs and six RBI.
ON TAP
Seattle plays opens a three-game series against the New York Yankees with a 7:10 p.m. game today that will be broadcast on Root Sports and 710-AM. Probable starting pitchers: New York’s Phil Hughes (4-5, 6.41 ERA) vs. Felix Hernandez (14-11, 3.15).
larry.larue@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/mariners/
JOIN THE DISCUSSION | Register here
We welcome comments. Please keep them civil, short and to the point. ALL CAPS, spam, obscene, profane, abusive and off topic comments will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be blocked. Thanks for taking part — and abiding by these simple rules. A thorough explanation of rules of conduct can be found in our Terms of Service. If you have any questions, including why your comment may not be showing immediately after you submit it, be sure to visit the commenting FAQ.