Blake Walston's MLB Debut More Impressive than Final Line

The left-hander impressed his manager with both his stuff and demeanor

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Blake Walston Major League Debut on May 1, 2024 against the Los Angeles Dodgers / Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY

Prior to Wednesday night's game against the Dodgers, an excited and happy Blake Walston addressed the media. As is often the custom when players are first called up to the major leagues, they are asked a string of questions about how they found out, and what kind of reaction their family had.

Walston's story was funny and had the members of the media laughing as he told them he was at the tables in Las Vegas playing Blackjack. When he tried to call his brother and parents, he called twenty times before getting an answer. It was well past midnight on the east coast in North Carolina where his family lives.

Blake Walston was hitting the tables in Vegas when he found out about his MLB call-up last night. pic.twitter.com/ladxh8T7AE

— Michael McDermott (@MichaelMcDMLB) May 1, 2024

Walston on who he called upon learning that he’d be a big leaguer pic.twitter.com/yRnuX2D3uO

— Michael McDermott (@MichaelMcDMLB) May 1, 2024

Unfortunately for the Diamondbacks, Walston's debut came in a blowout. Jordan Montgomery started and allowed six runs through just three innings. The Dodgers ended up winning the game 8-0. Prior to the game Torey Lovullo said that Walston was here to provide length, and he provided exactly that.

Walston's first batter faced was Austin Barnes, who lined out to left on a fastball at the top of the zone. His next batter was MVP candidate Mookie Betts, who reached down and yanked a well placed 2-2 curveball that was well down below the strike zone for a single through the hole to left.

Freddie Freeman came up next and worked the count full before smacking a line drive right at Christian Walker who caught it easily and stepped on first base for the unassisted double play. Perhaps with a little adrenaline pumping, Walston's fastball topped out at 94.5 before settling in between 92-93.

The 5th inning began with Will Smith blasting a slider on the inner half 412 feet to center field. Thanks to the dimensions of Chase Field, Corbin Carroll was able to chase it down on the track just before the wall. After walking Teoscar Hernandez, Walston got out of the inning in impressive fashion.

He recorded his first major league strikeout by getting Enrique Hernandez swinging on an 0-2 curveball, once again down below the strike zone in a good location. The next batter, red hot rookie Andy Pages battled Walston to a nine pitch at bat before getting rung up on fastball dotted on the very outside edge of the plate.

In the 6th, Walston showed his athleticism by fielding a comebacker from Miguel Rojas to get the first out. Chris Taylor blooped a soft line drive into left for a single (66 MPH exit velocity). He struck out Barnes on yet another effective curveball, and then got Betts to fly out to medium center field to end the inning.

There was no doubt that Walston was impressive through his first three innings of work, and showed he could get outs in the major leagues. He ran into trouble in the 7th inning however, battling a familiar foe, himself.

He walked Freddie Freeman to start the inning, never a good thing against the Dodgers lineup. He managed to get Smith looking at a 2-2 fastball at the bottom of the zone, but Hernandez jumped on a first pitch curve ball that caught too much of the zone and rifled a 103 MPH ground ball through the hole into left.

With runners on first and second Walston looked like he might be tiring, as he walked Hernandez on four pitches. He struck out Pages swinging however, and it looked like he might get out of the inning. Unfortunately he lost Miguel Rojas on a 3-2 fastball that just missed nipping the corner up and away to walk in a run, thus ending his night.

Reliever Brandon Hughes came on to relieve and walked the first batter he faced, bringing in the second run charged to Walston. The final line for the rookie was 3.2 IP, 3 hits, 2 ER, 4BB, 5K. He threw 79 pitches, 42 for strikes. He came within one pitch, just slightly off the plate, of not allowing any runs.

Given the nature of the game and how his first three innings went, it still must be considered a successful debut. He showed all four of his pitches, (fastball, curve, slider, and changeup), and did not look overmatched at all facing one of the toughest lineups in baseball.

"Huge congratulations to him. Controlling the emotions, being able to walk out there, slow it down, make pitches. He gave us just about four good innings of no run baseball, and allowed us on our feet and get some noise going offensively, but unfortunately that didn't happen. I thought Blake was great. Controlling those emotions going up there and repeating his delivery and pounding the zone the way he did was pretty impressive."

Going forward, Walston will have to find a way to avoid walks to fully earn his manager's trust. That's been an ongoing issue for the tall left-hander. He walked 15 against 19 strikeouts in 21 innings in Reno this year and a whopping 93 in 149 innings last year. That's not a problem he ever had in his minor league career prior to last year however. That lends hope that he can find a way to avoid walks at some point going forward.

The Diamondbacks have been shuffling pitchers in and out of Triple-A this year to provide coverage. There have been a slew of injuries and of course the strange bee swarm game on Tuesday night that resulted in a bullpen game and the need for coverage. It's not clear exactly what the plan is for Walston going forward. The team may keep him up to work out of the bullpen, or possibly send him back to Reno to remain stretched out as a starter.

Regardless of what happens over the next days and weeks, Blake Walston is now a major leaguer. He toiled at every level of the minor leagues for five years out of high school and made it to a level very few players actually reach. He did so with aplomb and humor and humility, and showed he has good enough stuff to record outs in the major leagues.