Dodgers' 30-Year-Old Rookie Says He 'Never Doubted' He'd Reach MLB

He finally made his debut on Tuesday.

Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY

There are countless stories of MLB players who had to wait with great patience for their first big league shot. Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Michael Peterson is among them, and is just now experiencing the payoff of keeping patient with his dream.

The 30-year-old Petersen finally made his major league debut for the Dodgers on Tuesday after spending nearly a decade in the minor leagues. Between the COVID-19 pandemic and Tommy John surgery, plenty of factors out of Petersen's control slowed his journey to the majors.

The right-hander finally got the call-up when Michael Grove was placed on the injured list. While it was a long road to the majors, Peterson didn't waver in his belief that he would make it up to the big leagues.

“It’s amazing. It’s been a long road and it’s been tough but I never really doubted that this day would happen,” Petersen said earlier this week, via Dennis Georgatos of the Orange County Register. “Now that it actually is, I keep catching myself (thinking) ‘Wow, this is a pretty big moment.’”

Though he was confident in making the majors, he still kept expectations realistic coming into the season with Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Last night Michael Petersen made his major league debut becoming the first British born Dodger ever and the first British born player in MLB since PJ Conlon on July 10th 2018.

He picked up a Win on his debut, striking out 2 over 2 innings. Here's some highlights from the outing. pic.twitter.com/IYJuneKjHB

— Bat Flips and Nerds (@batflips_nerds) June 19, 2024

“I didn’t come in here with any intentions on making the team out of spring,” Petersen said. “I was just like, let’s start strong, have a good season, see what happens and hit the ground running in Oklahoma City.”

It all paid off. In his much-awaited debut, Petersen pitched two innings, allowing one hit, one walk, one earned run, and struck out two batters as the Dodgers earned a miraculous 11-9 comeback win over the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday. Prior to his debut, Petersen was 2-0 with a 1.61 ERA in 22.1 innings pitched in Triple-A this season.