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The Dodgers against the Mets on Saturday will start Zach Lee, making his major league debut.
Lee pitched seven innings on Monday for Triple-A Oklahoma Ciity in Omaha, allowing two runs on four hits, with five strikeouts and a walk. The right-hander is 7-3 with a 2.36 ERA with OKC this season, with 50 strikeouts and 14 walks in 68... innings, and has lasted at least six innings in eight of his 12 Triple-A starts.
He got his first technical big league stint last Saturday in Washington D.C., as the 26th man in the second game against the Nationals, but he did not pitch. He was sent back to Triple-A on Sunday and, because he was a 26th man is not subject to the normal 10-day rule for players optioned to the minors.
This is a long time coming for Lee, the Dodgers' first-round pick in 2010. But the Dodgers have had a pretty decent history of pitchers starting in their major league debut in the last decade and a half.
| Dodgers starting major league debuts since 2000 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pitcher | Date | Opp | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | Dec |
| Red Patterson | 5/1/14 | at Min | 4⅔ | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | |
| Matt Magill | 4/27/13 | Mil | 6⅔ | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | |
| Hyun-jin Ryu | 4/2/13 | SF | 6⅓ | 10 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5 | L |
| Stephen Fife | 7/17/12 | Phi | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | |
| Nathan Eovaldi | 8/6/11 | at Ari | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | W |
| John Ely | 4/18/10 | at NYM | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | L |
| Clayton Kershaw | 5/25/08 | StL | 6 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | |
| Hiroki Kuroda | 4/4/08 | at SD | 7 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | W |
| Chad Billingsley | 6/15/06 | at SD | 5⅓ | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | |
| Derek Thompson | 5/28/05 | at Ari | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Edwin Jackson | 9/9/03 | at Ari | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | W |
| Kazuhisa Ishii | 4/6/02 | Col | 5⅔ | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | W |
| Totals: 4-2, 2.58 ERA |
69⅔ | 52 | 22 | 20 | 23 | 57 | LA, 7-5 | ||
| Source: Baseball-Reference | |||||||||
Since 2000, 11 of 12 Dodgers pitchers starting in their major league debut allowed two or fewer earned runs. The only one to allow more was John Ely, who gave up five runs in six innings against the Mets in New York, but he was followed by a mania.
Collectively, the dozen debuts since 2000 have resulted in a 2.58 ERA, with the Dodgers winning seven of the 12 games. If we remove fully-formed professional Asian imports Kazuhisa Ishii, Hiroki Kuroda and Hyun-jin Ryu, the numbers are still solid - a 2.88 ERA and 5.63 innings per start.
While it has been a five-year wait for Lee, it is important to remember that he doesn't turn 24 until Sept. 13.
Game info
Time: 4:10 p.m. PT
TV: SportsNet LA