Ex-Cal Pitcher Daulton Jefferies Has Disastrous Major-League Debut

Right-hander started the first game of a doubleheader for the Oakland A's on Saturday but gave up two first-inning homers

Former Cal star Daulton Jefferies made his major-league debut on Saturday afternoon, and it wasn't pretty.

He was the starting pitcher for the Oakland A's in the first game of a doubleheader against the Texas Rangers in Arlington, Texas, and in his very first major-league inning, he gave up five runs on a three-run home run by Rougnet Odor and a two-run home run by Ronald Guzman. 

He got through the second inning without yielding any more runs, but he was removed from the game after two innings, having allowed five runs (all earned) on five hits, including two homers, and two walks. After one major-league game, Jefferies has an ERA of 22.50, and he took the loss in a game the A's lost 5-2.

This is not what Jefferies had in mind for his major-league debut, and it's unclear whether he'll get another start for the A's.

**Some other pitchers who turned out to be stars had tough major-league debuts, as noted in this video:

After going 7-0 with a 1.08 ERA in his final year at Cal in 2016, Jefferies was the 37th overall pick in the 2016 major league draft.

Jefferies had Tommy John surgery in 2017 and missed most of the 2017 and 2018 seasons. 

He was 2-2 with a 3.42 ERA combined between Class A Stockton and Double-A Midland last season, with 93 strikeouts and just nine walks in 79 innings. He pitched well during spring training with the A's this year.

However, the walks that had been so rare in the minors got him in trouble Saturday.

He walked the leadoff batter in the first inning, but got the next two batters out and was on the verge of getting out of the inning. However, he walked the next batter to put two runners on base before Odor lined a home run down the right-field line.

Elvis Andrus followed with a single, and Guzman followed that with a long home run to right field to make it 5-0. All five runs came with two outs.

Jefferies yielded a single but no runs in the second, but he did not come out for the third inning.

Daulton Jefferies - Photo by Rick Scuteri

 

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