Nervous first innings are nothing new for pitchers making their major league debuts. Jonathan Stiever was no exception in his first inning on Sunday, but that did not tell the story.
News of Stiever’s call-up came Saturday night. Technically, he was making the jump from A ball, but Stiever had been working at the alternate site in Schaumburg. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Stiever dealt with nerves before settling down.
The Indiana product walked the first batter he faced, Victor Reyes, on a eight-pitch at-bat featuring only fastballs. Stiever also walked the second batter, Willi Castro, but Reyes was thrown out trying to reach second in the middle of the at-bat. Two singles later in the inning led to a run before Stiever struck out Daz Cameron to end it.
In all, the first inning featured 36 pitches (20 for strikes), but Stiever avoided further trouble. He got out of it and retired the final nine batters he faced.
So what did Stiever do to keep the Detroit Tigers off the board after an ugly first inning? For one, he threw more strikes. Stiever did not walk any more batters and faced just one three-ball count the rest of his outing. After the first inning, he threw 25 strikes in 37 pitches.
He got seven whiffs plus a foul tip strikeout. Of those swinging strikes, five came off the fastball, two off the curveball and one off his slider.
Stiever’s final line: 3 2/3 innings, 1 run, 3 strikeouts, 2 walks, 2 hits. He threw 45 strikes in 73 pitches.
Catcher James McCann called for a fastball-heavy diet from Stiever, especially early. Stiever didn’t show he could locate any of his offspeed pitches early on so that made sense. Perhaps going forward McCann (or Yasmani Grandal) will have a better idea of how to use Stiever’s arsenal.
Stuff wise, Stiever’s fastball was mostly in the 92-94 mph range. He showed good offerings with his curveball and slider, but neither were consistent. When Stiever settled down, the offspeed pitches were more effective.
The 23-year-old showed his stuff can work at the major league level if he throws strikes. He issued 27 walks in 145 innings between both levels of A ball last year so walks aren’t typically a problem for him. Granted, that’s A ball and not the majors, but Stiever should be able to gain confidence from this start.
Stiever’s debut wasn’t as impressive as Dane Dunning’s debut, but Dunning had more experience on his side. Stiever is coming off his first full season of pro ball, but was still able to give the White Sox some quality innings.
Going forward, Stiever may not stay in the rotation long. He was up because Dallas Keuchel is injured. With Reynaldo Lopez pitching five scoreless innings Saturday in his return from Schaumburg, Stiever may not be able to beat him out of the rotation for the final two weeks. Still, he put his name in consideration for more MLB appearances this year.
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