WATCH: Dylan Dodd has a night to remember in Major League debut

The rookie southpaw throws five innings of one-run ball against the Cardinals

With hopefully minor injuries to front-line starters Max Fried and Kyle Wright, the Braves broke camp with two young lefties in their rotation. While Jared Shuster's first inning against the Nationals on Sunday marred an otherwise promising debut, Dylan Dodd came out firing tonight at Busch Stadium.

With a strong contingent of Dodds in attendance, the young starter tossed five innings against a potent St. Louis lineup, allowing just one run on six hits, with three strikeouts and no walks. He was particularly dazzling the first time through the Cardinal order, as leadoff man Tommy Edman was the only man to reach before he was erased on a double-play grounder off the bat of Paul Goldschmidt.

When your son gets the reigning NL MVP to ground into an inning-ending double play for his first frame in the majors 👀 pic.twitter.com/Uyqp9Eco34

— Bally Sports South (@BallySportsSO) April 5, 2023

Dylan Dodd's first career strikeout: Nolan Arenado ✅ pic.twitter.com/j7wqnIvyr2

— Bally Sports: Braves (@BravesOnBally) April 5, 2023

Dodd rolled through the rest of the order from there before running into a spot of trouble the second time through. His own error contributed to a potential big inning in the 4th before Ronald Acuña Jr.'s arm put out the fire. Then the Cardinals put him in a two-out pickle in the 5th, but he was able to retire Edman on a weak fly-ball to right to finish his night in style.

All smiles after a fantastic MLB debut for @Doddzy_25. pic.twitter.com/hLqEj0yZ8N

— Bally Sports: Braves (@BravesOnBally) April 5, 2023

As shown below and alluded to in our game preview, Dodd was particularly efficient, pounding the zone with strikes and rarely falling behind hitters. Five innings on 73 pitches will do, and he seemed very comfortable with the new pitch clock, an area where guys who played in the minors last year may have an advantage over their veteran teammates since the clock was instituted last season at that level.

Dylan Dodd's pitch plot after four innings.

76% in-zone fastball rate. Last year in the minors he threw his fastball for strikes well over 70% of the time. Just a really good control artist.

4 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 53 pitches/39 strikes (73.6% strikes) pic.twitter.com/L0HqAkOYNI

— Carlos Collazo (@CarlosACollazo) April 5, 2023

Dodd exited the game with a 4-1 lead and stands to be the winner if the Atlanta 'pen can hold on. The series will conclude tomorrow afternoon at 1:15 ET in St. Louis.

How to watch

The game broadcast, with Voice of the Braves Brandon Gaudin, is available inside Braves Country on Bally Sports Southeast, and is available on MLB.TV outside of the broadcast area. The radio call, with Ben Ingram, is available locally on 680 AM/93.7 FM The Fan or outside the Atlanta market on the Atlanta Braves Radio Network or MLB.com. 

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