If there was any player who has been long overdue to make his major league debut, it was Toronto Blue Jays prospect Ricky Tiedemann , who has been eyeing a slot in the starting rotation, but the 23-year-old has battled injuries that have kept the inevitable debut at bay.
Well, the time has finally come, and it might not have happened if not for the revolving door between the pitching staff and the dreaded injured list. But with a slew of lefties in the forecast, he finally had the opportunity to take the bump out of the bullpen against the New York Yankees .
It wasn't solely Tiedemann's performance that earned a 4-1 victory over the Yankees to secure the series, as a slew of rookies have stepped up in a big way over the last couple of weeks to put the Jays back in playoff contention.
That being said, it sure is a breath of fresh air for both Toronto and Tiedemann to have a solid outing for his first time in the majors.
Blue Jays pitcher Ricky Tiedemann (33) throws a pitch against the New York Yankees. Credit: Nick Turchiaro | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
After a clean first inning for Braydon Fisher , the tone was set for the day in a monumental way. Then, it was time for the young gun to come in and get to work. The best thing that could have happened for Teidemann was for his first pitch to be a strike, which it was.
Unfortunately, a single, followed by a stolen base and another base hit, put New York in the driver's seat with a 1-0 lead. However, with one out on the board, Teidemann locked in, and he sat down the next four in order, logging a pair of strikeouts.
The most impressive K he recorded was his final out of his ball game against the slugger Ben Rice , because the sequence was a thing of beauty. Tiedemann was never behind in the count and eventually froze him with a four-seamer.
Tiedemann recorded five outs for the Blue Jays in 27 pitches with a pretty nice recovery to make sure the offense had a chance to come through, and they did, especially a couple of rookies, as Brett Bateman and Charles McAdoo were masterful.
As the No.9 hitter it was pretty hard to miss the key contributions that McAdoo had, especially as he was stepping into the cleats of Vladimir Guerrero, who is now on the 7-Day Concussion IL. He came up big with a double for the Jays to take the lead in the bottom of the 7th.
Then, he came up to the plate again in the 8th and, for added insurance, drove in another run. McAdoo has been excellent since his recall from Buffalo at the beginning of the week.
Blue Jays first baseman Charles McAdoo (26) hits an RBI single against the New York Yankees. Credit: Nick Turchiaro | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Then, there is Bateman, who is impossible to put into words. He continues to show incredible plate discipline, as he had a knock and drew a walk against Cam Schlittler , followed by another knock in the 7th.
After some pretty noble heroics from the rookies, the Blue Jays now sit in a four-way tie for the final wild-card spot, with a few games left to play on Saturday night. It has been a miraculous turnaround for Toronto as these young studs continue to step up to the challenge.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/bluejays/onsi as Blue Jays Tiedemann Has Solid Debut To Complement Other Big Rookie Performances .
