After a surprise promotion to fill in for a depleted Jays starting rotation, Marc Rzepczynski had a very solid major league debut against the Rays. He lasted 6 innings, giving up just 1 run scattering only 2 hits while striking out 7 batters. The southpaw made history, becaming the first American League pitcher to strike out at least 7 and allow two or fewer hits in his ML debut since 1973. The young lefty was the 5 Jays starter to make his major league debut this season, setting a new club record. He looked poised on the mound, only running into trouble in the 4th frame. That's where his control wavered a little bit, as Rzepczynski issued three free passes in the inning, including a walk with the bases loaded that accounted for the only run he surrendered.
The solid debut has to be considered somewhat of a surprise, but not if you examine Rzepczynski's numbers this year in the minors. In 16 starts, he went 9-5 with a svelte 2.86 ERA. He was recently promoted to AAA Las Vegas, and in two outings fashioned a minuscule 0.79 ERA with 16 K's. The 23 year old, selected in the 5th round of the 2007 draft is a strike out pitcher, having struck out 104 batters in 88 innings with class AA New Hampshire and AAA Las Vegas this season.
With Scott Richmond on the shelf, Rzepczynski could most certainly be given a couple more opportunities to prove he belongs at the big league level.
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